Anchor: A Japanese-born professor who is now a naturalized Korean has opened a Web site refuting Tokyo's territorial claims to the Dokdo islets. He has devoted much of his professional life to conducting research proving Dokdo is indeed part of Korea.
Our Park Jong-hong has more.
 
Report: The new website called dokdoandeastasia-dot-com was opened to the public on Monday.
 
It contains various data on Korea-Japan relations ranging from historical records proving Dokdo is Korean territory to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japanese war criminals.
 
Professor Yuji Hosaka of Sejong University, who heads the Dokdo General Research Institute, said he launched the site especially with Japanese nationals in mind to make it clear to them that Korea has sovereignty over Dokdo.

[Sound bite:
Professor Yuji Hosaka, Sejong University] 
"It was necessary to let many people know about the result of our research to help solving problems in Asia, especially between Japan and Korea. We will send newsletters to middle and high school social studies teaches."

The most notable data on the Web site is the Daijo-kan Directive. This document dating back to Japan's Meiji Government in 1877 is an official acknowledgement declaring Dokdo is not Japanese territory.
 
Daijo-kan was the highest decision-making body and it handed down this directive to the interior ministry clearly stating that Korea's Ulleung island and Dokdo island are not related with Japan.

[Sound bite: Professor Yuji Hosaka, Sejong University] 
“In Korean old maps, we can find that Dokdo was clearly marked next to Ulleung island with the name of Usando, or Usan Island. Since the 18th century, Dokdo has been marked in the exact location in every Korean map. However, Dokdo does not appear until 1905 on old Japanese maps officially made by the Japanese government. This means Japan recognized Dokdo as Korean territory until that point."
 
Anyone who registers to the site free of charge can download videos and PDF files of this data.

The website is translated into three languages -- Korean, English and Japanese.
Park Jong-hong, KBS World Radio News.