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Korean American flash mobs celebrate Dokdo Day in NorCal

October 26, 2015
A group of Korean Americans gathered outside San Jose City Hall Saturday for a flash mob, declaring, "Dokdo is our land."

A group of Korean Americans gathered outside San Jose City Hall Saturday for a flash mob, declaring, “Dokdo is our land.”

By The Korea Times San Francisco staff

About 100 Korean Americans stood united in front of San Jose City Hall Saturday for a flash mob stating Dokdo is Korean land.

Participants ranged in age, from a three-year-old who showed up holding his mother’s hand, to a 90-year-old Korean War veteran, Chang Bok-hwan.

South Korea celebrated Dokdo Island Day Sunday.

The territory has long the focus of a sovereignty dispute between Korea, which calls it “Dokdo,” and Japan, which calls it “Takeshima.” It is located in the East Sea between the two countries.

A campaign by U.S.-based groups calling for Google to return the name “Dokdo” to its Maps has so far obtained 100,000 signatures.

On Saturday, another group of about 10 UC Berkeley students, members of international Korean student newspaper CalFocus, held a separate flash mob in front of Google headquarters, asking the search giant to return the name “Dokdo” to the disputed land that it re-labeled “Liancourt Rocks” in 2012.

Kim Moon-kyung, a Berkeley senior and CalFocus leader, said the flash mob had meaning in gathering Koreans into one in time for Dokdo Day.

Kim Ji-hyun, a 7-year-old and Cupertino second-grader, came out to the flash mob with his mother.

“My mom said we’re going to get back the name Dokdo, so I came with her,” he said.