"Dear my island of love, Dokdo." "Dokdo is the spiritual home of Koreans." "Do you know Dokdo?" These are some of the phrases that were sent during a text message event under the theme of Dokdo Love, held September 17 to 19 hosted by LG Telecom, KTF Telecom and the Korean Language Research Society.
October was designated as the month of Dokdo by the provincial council of North Gyeongsang Province in 2005. The designation was made to counteract Japan's nomination of Takeshima (referring to Dokdo in Japanese) Day earlier that year.
"To remember the day and appreciate the true value of Dokdo more, the council chose October as a month of Dokdo. Various events are ready for students to participate in,"said Yi So-ri, a staff member of Dokdo Guard Team in North Gyeongsang Provincial government. 
"A Living Histiry, Dokdo!,"a tentative title for the first documentary film about Dokdo, directed by Seo Kyoung-duk, well-known for his work on publicizing the island, will be released in late October. The Korean narration will be done by Kim Jang-hoon, a famous Korean singer who donated money for posting an advertisement in the New York Times about Dokdo.
Conferences discussing Dokdo's ownership will also be held throughout the month. From October 8 to 12, the 2nd International NGO Conference on History and Peace will be held by the Korean Organizing Committee and Northeast Asian History Foundation (NAHF) under the broad theme of "The Role of Global Civil Society towards Historical Reconciliation in East Asia"at Seoul Olympic Parktel. During the conference, two symposiums will be held on October 9 and 10, mainly focusing on the Dokdo territorial dispute in Northeast Asia. "Over three hundred scholars and NGO experts will discuss means of creating a peaceful resolution to international conflicts, particularly territorial disputes over Dokdo,"said a staff member from the NAHF who wished to remain anonymous.
"If students really want to get a practical sense of Dokdo, they can actually travel down the Korean peninsula and to Dokdo during the weekend," said Kim Jong-kwon who is a chief at the Association of Picturing Unexplored Regions in Korea. He also plans to open his exhibition of Dokdo throughout the month in the Gokseong train village in South Jeolla Province.
One hundred twenty pictures of Dokdo taken solely by Kim during all four seasons over the past ten years, including some aerial shots, will be displayed. "By looking at the photos, students will get a glimpse of why Japan triggered the Dokdo dispute and get to see how residents are making their lives in Dokdo," said Kim. To get further information about participating in the various events, students can visit websites such as Cyber Dokdo (http://www.dokdo.go.kr) for the information about contest, (http://www.historyngo.org) for the conference details and (http://www.gstrain.co.kr) for directions to the exhibition.