코리아헤럴드

In a surprisingly swift move, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names reversed its recent designation of Dokdo as "undesignated sovereignty" and reclassified the islets` sovereignty as Korean.

The change was made on Wednesday, soon after U.S. President George W. Bush ordered the readjustment by BGN. The fact that it took only hours for the restoration to be made shows it was a political decision, designed to prevent further anti-U.S. sentiments in Korea ahead of Bush`s visit to Seoul next week.

While the Foreign Ministry may be inclined to regard it as a small victory for Korean diplomacy, this is hardly the case. Media accounts of the flurry of activities that took place after the new classification of Dokdo as "undesignated sovereignty" paint a picture of desperate, all-out attempts to get the BGN to reverse its decision. Telephoning a high-level U.S. envoy in the middle of the night and insisting that a call be connected to the U.S. Secretary Condoleezza Rice in mid-flight are hardly routine diplomatic practices. The Foreign Ministry was acting in crisis mode when, had it been doing its job, such an "emergency" could have been prevented, or at least predicted, so that the government could actually resolve the issue through normal diplomacy.

Dokdo is now listed by the BGN - a U.S. federal body established to maintain uniform usage of geographic names through out the U.S. government - as the "Liancourt Rocks," belonging to Korea with the variant names of Dokdo and Take-Shima. Since 1977, the United States has been using the name Liancourt Rocks to refer to Dokdo. The change in classification of Dokdo from South Korean sovereignty to undesignated territory was made last Friday, causing public furor here and prompting the government to launch frantic efforts to have Korean sovereignty reinstated in the BGN`s classification.

It is fortunate that the designation of Korean sovereignty over Dokdo was restored. However, the fact that Japan continues to challenge Korean sovereignty over the islands remains unchanged. This is an opportune time to review how we have been countering those challenges and to see if the approach we have employed so far has been effective.

The latest controversy is a stark reminder of what can happen if we are not vigilant about asserting our sovereignty over Dokdo. Successive administrations have refrained from taking action or making statements that might give the impression that there is a territorial dispute involving Dokdo. "Korea clearly has sovereignty over Dokdo. Why get embroiled in a territorial dispute when there should be none?" has been the reason behind the Korean government`s reluctance to bring the issue to international attention.

However, concerted and continued efforts must be made behind the scenes to broaden international recognition of Dokdo as part of Korea. The government has created Dokdo taskforces. At a time when Japan has initiated yet another attempt at claiming the islets for itself, such taskforces are necessary to handle the situation. However, the term "taskforce" implies a temporary effort. What is needed - as the latest incident clearly demonstrates - is a long-term plan to settle the issue.