Seoul Metro to replace 3 removed Dokdo models with video displays

A Dokdo model remains set up at City Hall Station, Seoul. (Yonhap)

After stirring controversy by removing models of the Dokdo islets from three of Seoul subway stations over the past few months, Seoul Metro said Tuesday that it has decided to install TVs in the stations that will play promotional videos of the South Korean islets.

According to the subway operator which is owned by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the videos will be played at the wall-mounted TVs that will be installed at Jamsil Station, Anguk Station and Gwanghwamun Station by early September. The screens will play videos of Dokdo during the four seasons.

Wall-mounted models or framed images of the islets were initially mulled as replacements, but officials said they decided to set up videos on TVs for reasons of practicality and management.

Seoul Metro has recently come under fire as it was revealed to have removed and thrown away the Dokdo models from three of the six stations where they had been installed 14 years ago, part of a 2009 initiative to raise public awareness of South Korea's sovereignty over Dokdo.

Further suspicions that it was intentionally trying to "erase" Dokdo amid Japan's claims to the South Korean islets were raised when it was revealed that the Dokdo model at Anguk Station was removed three days before the 79th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

The remaining models at the three other stations -- City Hall, Gimpo International Airport and Itaewon -- will be restored and unveiled to the public by Oct. 20, before the country's unofficially-designated Dokdo Day on Oct. 25.

The removal of the 1:700 scale replicas of the Korean islands has sparked complaints from people who feel the government should step up its promotion of the country's sovereignty in light of Japan's continued claims over the islets.

Seoul Metro said that removing the models did not have any political intent, and that they were removed for "citizen safety" and obstruction of foot traffic in the said stations.

Notices about the new Dokdo-related displays and restoration of the three models left have been posted at the three stations, and Seoul Metro said it will share its plans via its social media.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)