Seo Kyoung-duk shares images of Japanese rice and salt products on social media

The “Takeshima rice” (left) shared Saturday on the social media account of Sungshin Women‘s University Professor Seo Kyoung-duk. The salt product on the right features a label that deliberately marks Dokdo. [Prof. Seo Kyoung-duk’s SNS]
The “Takeshima rice” (left) shared Saturday on the social media account of Sungshin Women‘s University Professor Seo Kyoung-duk. The salt product on the right features a label that deliberately marks Dokdo. [Prof. Seo Kyoung-duk’s SNS]

Sungshin Women‘s University Professor Seo Kyoung-duk has gone public with a tip he received about a rice product sold in Japan’s Shimane Prefecture under the name “Takeshima” — the Japanese term for Dokdo, the islets South Korea controls and claims as its own territory.

A 2-kilogram bag of rice that Seo posted Saturday to his social media account bears the words “Japan Takeshima” in large print, alongside text identifying the contents as rice grown in Shimane Prefecture.

The product appears to have been sold in connection with Shimane Prefecture‘s annual “Takeshima Day” events, held each Feb. 22. Whether it is currently available at general retail outlets has not been confirmed.

Seo also posted a photo of a product labeled “Rosoku Island Salt.” Rosoku Island is an uninhabited island in the Oki Islands of Shimane Prefecture, and the salt‘s packaging deliberately marks Dokdo and notes its distance from the Oki Islands.

“This is truly foolish,” Seo wrote. “Does making all sorts of merchandise turn Dokdo into Japanese territory? Shimane Prefecture must face history squarely and stop making baseless claims over Dokdo.”

Shimane Prefecture has repeatedly held events and sold products asserting territorial claims over Dokdo. This past February, ahead of its Takeshima Day ceremony, the prefectural government cafeteria sold a “Takeshima curry” dish in which Dokdo‘s two islets — the East and West islets — were represented using rice.

“Takeshima curry” sold at the Shimane Prefecture government cafeteria in February. [Prof. Seo Kyoung-duk‘s SNS]
“Takeshima curry” sold at the Shimane Prefecture government cafeteria in February. [Prof. Seo Kyoung-duk‘s SNS]

nyang@heraldcorp.com