Two dots in the East Sea : Ulleungdo and Dokdo ; 동해의 두 점 : 울릉도, 독도

The 15th of August is celebrated as Liberation Day in both North and South Korea alike. The surrender of Japan in 1945 kindled hope in a Korea that had spent decades under colonial rule. The sovereignty that the Korean people dreamed of over their land as a whole has yet to be realised. A symbol of that dream is the Korean unification flag – a blue outline of the entire Korean peninsula on a white background. Since the early 1990s, it has been used at sporting events where North and South Korea field joint teams. On more recent versions of the flag, two points have been added to the east: the islands of Ulleungdo and Dokdo. The latter is administered by South Korea but also claimed by Japan under a different name, giving rise to recurring diplomatic tensions. How this came about, and what role it plays in the lives of local people and in tourism to the region, is the subject of this atmospheric feature by Bodo Hartwig.