1954 Dokdo War

 Japanese Warships Defeated Aircraft Invasion in 1954 'Dokdo Battle'  

[Freshman Park Taegyeon/Reporter]

"When did the government guard the country when it was in danger? The righteous army protected it."

That's what old adults used to say. It was like that during the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, and it was like that at the end of the Joseon Dynasty. That's true. It is not a matter of looking for a case from afar. This is the case with Dokdo, which is now infuriating the entire nation with Japan's reckless behavior. When the Korean government's administrative power fell short of Dokdo after the Korean War, it was none other than the "righteous soldiers" who defeated Japan, which invaded Dokdo with insignificant weapons by mobilizing warships and aircraft.  

The late Hong Soon-chil (1929-1986), the commander of the Dokdo Volunteer Guard, published eight years ago in a magazine titled "Dokdo's Hidden Stories" by these unnamed civilian soldiers under the name of "Dokdo's Hidden Stories," which was published a few years ago under the title "Hyean."

Captain Hong's handwriting is touching to see why 40 young people in their mid-20s fought a fierce war against Japan, which is heavily armed with warships and aircraft for three years and eight months, with 1,300 to 1,400 millimeters of annual rainfall. In particular, the fact that Hong Jae-hyun's grandfather Hong Jae-hyun, who moved to Dokdo in 1883, held out the "fierce national spirit" behind them makes us solemn.  

Now, the Korean people hold a festival every year, calling Chungmugong's great victories, including the Battle of Hansan, during the Imran period, the Three Great Battle. Unfortunately, in 1954, when civilian soldiers, including Captain Hong Soon-chil, bowed and defeated Japanese warships and aircraft invasion of Dokdo at altitudes,

The reality of the Dokdo Battle on November 21 is not even known properly.This is especially true for young people.  

Therefore, with the understanding of Hyean Publishing Company, some of the handwriting of Captain Hong Soon-chil is introduced. This is because it would be shameful if we did not know the history of our proud struggle to protect Dokdo, while angry at Japan's failure.

- Editor's Note

Hong Jae-hyun Ong, a pioneer of Ulleungdo and Dokdo

On the 8th of April of 1883, when a grandfather (Hong Jae-hyun Ong), who returned from Gangneung, Gangwon-do to Ulleungdo Island, arrived in Hyeonpyo-dong, Buk-myeon, Ulleung-gun by boat for four days, only two families lived there. My grandfather climbed a high mountain one day, far east

I found another island in the sea. In ancient books such as "Sejongsillok" and "Donggukyeojiseungram," I guessed that it was Dokdo, and in June 1897, my grandfather climbed the Dokdo road and took a juniper tree from Ulleungdo Island

Dokdo was planted in Dongdo Island.

When my grandfather returned to Ulleungdo Island, he caught three sea lions and distributed them evenly to the residents of Ulleungdo Island. He was very happy to supply fat to residents who lived only with arrowroot, conch, or livelihood, and after that, he decided to obtain fat from Dokdo Island.

The following year (1898), he went to Dokdo to catch sea lions, and unexpectedly, he met a group of Japanese people named Murakami there. In other words, they said that they were animals that caught and sold sea lions as a living. My grandfather told me that this island was originally Korean territory

I told you not to come to this island again. The grandfather did not stop here, but went to Japan with him on a boat that a Japanese man had been on.

My grandfather, who went to Japan, told me many times when I was young that Umbrella Island, located between Ulleungdo Island and Japan, was banned from Japanese fishing because Dokdo is Korean territory.

As such, my grandfather always said that Dolseom Island (Dokdomyeong, which my grandfather called) is our land and is the speed of Ulleungdo Island, so people of Ulleungdo Island should preserve it well and pass it on to their descendants. After liberation, on June 30, 1948, fishermen on Ulleungdo Island sailed to Dokdo, and about 30 people were killed by a bomb in the 5th U.S. Air Force bombing exercise. When the governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do built a memorial stone on Dokdo in 1951, his grandfather went with him to Dokdo with his old body and read the investigation.

"God of heaven and earth, this island is our land given by heaven and is the home of our compatriots, so our compatriots cherish it and protect it. Even today, about 30 of our compatriots want to protect this island as the guardian gods of the stone island," I still vividly remember the end of the investigation with the mournful voice.

My grandfather went to Dokdo and asked, "Do you know how cool it is, Soon-chil?" To the writer who asked back, "Beauty is not about clothes that are appearances. The true beauty of man is the true love of his country and his people

I'm talking about somebody's accident."

"You fight and take back Dokdo"

When the Korean War broke out, the Panzer Regiment I belonged to advanced to Cheongjin, but I was taken to an army hospital with severe injuries near Wonsan, and returned to my hometown of Ulleungdo Island with an honorary discharge in July 1952. My grandfather was very welcoming, but he was very worried, saying, "You'll be a teacher forever."

One day, I went to the police chief with a cane and saw an unexpected situation. On the yard of the police station, there is a symbol called "Shima縣縣岐 Takeshima (Oki-gun, Shimane Prefecture), which is 4.5 angles and 6 feet long. At that moment I felt dizzy. "The Dokdo incident, which I've heard so many times from my grandfather since I was young, really happened!'

When I asked, "Sir, what is the sign in the yard?" the chief explained, "Japan was found to have marked its territory in Dokdo by fishermen from Ulleungdo Island, so the police chief picked the sign "Dokdo, Ulleung-gun, Korea" as a countermeasure, and there have been several such signings since then. In recent years, even Korean fishermen who pick seaweed are under threat from Japan, so they are very worried.

I felt a surge of anger at the work of the disgusting Japanese. In the midst of the Korean War, the administrative power of the country has fallen short of Dokdo, and the shameless Japanese authorities' treatment of claiming sovereignty over Dokdo and threatening good fishermen with violence is impossible.

After going to the police station, I told my grandfather about the past and the fact that our fishermen who went to pick seaweed stopped working due to the threat of the PS ship belonging to the Japan Coast Guard and returned to Ulleungdo Island. My grandfather said this indignantly.

"When we pioneered Ulleungdo Island, we had a lot of difficulties and fought with the Japanese people to die and kill, so what are we afraid of now? I can't go to Dokdo because I'm old, but you've learned to fight in the army and you're young people."

"Dokdo Island is our favorite place of living, as the citizens of Ulleungdo Island cherish it like Munjeonokdap, so you should go there and fight to regain Dokdo.""

Dokdo's Water Guard Launched, Entrance to Dokdo after Armed Forces

After the grandfather's words, about 40 local soldiers from Ulleungdo Island gathered to discuss the necessity of the Dokdo Water Guard organization and plans to live on Dokdo in the future, and gradually began preparing ahead of the Dokdo pearl.

In the fall of 1952, before the Dokdo Water Guard was organized and sent to the local area, I went to Busan to find weapons and other equipment. My grandfather gave me three million won in military funds. In addition to the price of the squid that I brought to Busan for sale, the commission for the sale of the squid by the villagers is added

It became a large sum of about 5 million won. Of these, 2 million won was spent on weapons purchases, and the rest of the money was purchased in Busan, including rice, personal equipment, and even yeast. With the extraordinary skill of Lieutenant Byun Seo-gap and the two princesses, bullets and M1 rifles were also available, including machine guns.

At that time, it was easy to buy and sell pistols and rifles at the "Yankee Market" in Busan.

Dokdo's water defense corps had two combat groups to be stationed there and 15 people in each group, and a total of 45 people, including three members of Ulleung Island's supply liaison office, five reservists, and five crew members of the supply ship. The only non-military personnel were the crew of the supply ship and three liaison officers

They were warriors who fought on each front during the Korean War.

At the time of its first visit to Dokdo, the equipment included two Gyeonggi machine guns, three M2s, 10 M1s, two pistols, 50 grenades, and other equipment to live on Dokdo and a 0.5-ton boat for local use. In addition, three Belgian Jeonseo-gu, well-grown at home, were used for communication between Ulleungdo and Dokdo.

On 20 April 1953 we were on an indefinite journey to return. Our ship was an old and insignificant squid fishing boat of less than 5 tons for more than 10 years, but it was the only supply ship for us. On this day, we landed on Dokdo after a three-hour voyage.

"First Battle" July 23, 1953

At 5:30 a.m. on July 23, 1953, three months after the Volunteer Guard landed on Dokdo and established its position as a barracks. While working in shifts for exactly two hours, Kim Eun-ho, the prospector, reported, "A Japanese warship!"

The PS9 ships belonging to the Japan Coast Guard have been advancing 200 meters ahead of our garrison's barracks.

The movements of our guards were astute. Cho Sang-dal, Lee Sang-guk, and Hwayoung-mun installed machine guns on the horseboat and became a group with me, and the rest of the members decided to divide into other groups under the command of Seo Ki-jong and attack them. Ask them to cover the boat with a flare, and our association will be able to get the boat

He rode and rushed 20 meters away from the PS9 ship.

"Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang!

Amid a series of gunfire, more than 200 rounds of live ammunition were poured intensively toward the PS 9 from each rifle and the Gyeonggi machine gun installed in the boat. However, the thickness of the trap iron plate was too thick to make a hole.

However, embarrassed by the sudden shooting and supporting shots fired from the land, the Japanese ship bypassed the side of Gazaebawi Rock and fled far east.

As I turned the boat toward the barracks and returned, I caught a sea lion and arrived at the barracks. Then, the members who remained at the unit headquarters and fired support shots jumped into the water and greeted the commandos with a shout of "Wow!" On this Dokdo Island, which is an ancient island of the East Sea, the hearts of the country's loving members were on par with each other, touching the comradeship that hugged "you and me."

When a glass of alcohol was circulated on the sea lion's instant bulgogi, I couldn't help but say a word to the audience.

"Today's battle was a momentary encounter, but the Japanese ship withdrew because of the patriotism of its valiant comrades. This is not only a victory for our Dokdo guards, but also a joy that will go down in history. However, it is regrettable that the PS 9 tablets could not be sunk deep into the sea due to the absence of heavy weapons. So I'm going to try to get a heavy weapon somehow." And there were applause and shouts from the audience.

I asked them to be more strict in defending Dokdo while I was away, and the next day, I boarded a ship in Gangwon-do that was fishing off Dokdo and arrived at Mukho. Upon arriving in Daegu the next day, he talked to the head of the Gyeongbuk Military District Command and easily obtained two M boats as bait to catch sea lions that are good for energy. In addition, the Gyeongbuk Police Station obtained one captured Soviet-made direct gun and one mortar without a sighting table. But there are no live ammunition!

I took the Gyeongbu Line again and ran to Busan. The military funds in the handbag were only 2 million won in cash and one male reproducer of the sea lion. With the help of Princess Yang and others, he was able to purchase shells and weapons and return to Dokdo in gold.

The following year, on August 23, 1954, we were able to use this weapon to defeat another Japanese Coast Guard patrol ship that tried to approach Dokdo after a gun battle.

On November 21, 1954, the Battle of Dokdo was fought by three Japanese warships

November 21, 1954. Maybe it's because of the habit of waking up early on this day, but as soon as I wake up, I go out and go around the island once, but isn't a Japanese ship coming toward Dokdo from the sea 1km ahead? Instinctively, when I looked left and right, I saw Japanese traps on the right and left. There were also Japanese military planes in the sky.

I felt intuitively, 'These are attacking Dokdo in a complete siege.'

When I jumped into the barracks, shouted for emergency, and checked with binoculars, it was a 1,000-ton Japanese ship, PS 9, 10, and 16. As usual, our men were alert and ready for action, waiting for orders.

When the Japanese ship approaches 500 meters, it signals with a pistol. The mortar hits the PS9 first, the heavy weapon is shot behind the mortar, but destroys the command tower, and then attacks the left and right 10 and 16 ships with the same trick," he ordered. There have been several invasions by Japanese ships since our Dokdo Guards arrived on Dokdo, but this is the first time that so many ships have been mobilized, so we had to be prepared.

a creeping Japanese ship a strained-faced crew Their eyes staring silently at each other.

"Didn't Admiral Yi Sun-shin fight against Japan with inferior equipment during the Japanese Invasion of Korea?" We are now facing a Japanese trap on land, which is an advantageous position with such equipment. We will lead this battle to victory and prevent Japanese ships from invading Dokdo again.'

I clenched my molars, too.

The Japanese ship approached 700 meters to 600 meters and finally reached the M-1 rifle range. With a single pistol signal, shots rang out as if Dokdo was leaving, and the first mortar fired by Seo Ki-jong, a former special envoy, hit the PS9 during the Korean War, and several people were seen falling out of the player.

The Japanese ship was scrambling to and fro in the unexpected shooting, calling for help from the PS16, and the 16 approaching the PS9 were fleeing eastward, with ropes crossing the 9 to attempt a tug-of-war and the heavy weapon's deadly blow of smoke.

The critically wounded Japanese ship was disappearing eastward, with only the plane continuing to circle Dokdo and threatening it. As he did not miss the plane at all and perfected it in his anti-aircraft posture, the plane, which was judged to be unfortunate, also disappeared toward the eastern sky. Standing up in unison, the crew hugged each other with a shout of "Wow!" and shared the joy of victory.

Japan listened to NHK's broadcasting on how to report. Unsurprisingly, the noon news reported that the Korean Guard fired from their so-called Takeshima, damaging Japanese coast guard vessels and causing 16 casualties. The Japanese government immediately wrote a memorandum of protest to the Korean government

It was submitted and mail with Dokdo stamps at the time was returned to Korea from Japan. This incident will lead to a fierce diplomatic war between the U.S. and the Korean-Japanese governments.

On December 30, 1956, after three years and eight months of landing on Dokdo, we handed over weapons and duties to the National Police Agency and returned to Ulleungdo Island.