Dokdo ("독도" in Korean), also called the Dokdo island, is a group of islands in the East Sea. These islands are collectively called Dokdo. The name means a "rock island." Dokdo has been a Korean territory throughout all known history except during the Japanese occupation of Korea between 1905 and 1945.

 

 

Dokdo is also called Liancourt Rocks after the French whaling ship, Le Liancourt, which rediscovered Dokdo on January 27, 1849. The Japanese name for Dokdo used to be Matsushima (松島) until 1905, at which time it was renamed as Takeshima (竹島) along with a Japanese territorial claim.

 

 

Dokdo has been under the control of South Korean since August 15, 1948, on which the Korea-based U.S. XXIV Corps transferred Dokdo to the newly born Republic of Korea.