Released 10 Songs Weekly on YouTube Channel
Collected 193 Dokdo Songs Over Five Months
Seo Hee (birth name Seo Seontaek), known as the "Dokdo Singer" and a 32nd-generation descendant of Seo Hee (942?998), an early Goryeo diplomat and strategist, has successfully completed a project to release 193 songs about Dokdo on YouTube and a fan cafe in response to Japan's territorial claims. On July 7, Yonhap News reported that Seo's long journey of sequentially releasing Dokdo-related songs since February had concluded successfully. The project was carried out by uploading 10 songs each week to his YouTube channel from February 22, which is designated as "Takeshima Day" by Shimane Prefecture in Japan, until July 5.
According to Yonhap News, Seo based this project on his doctoral dissertation, "A 50-Year History of Dokdo Songs in the Republic of Korea," through which he collected and analyzed songs about Dokdo. The dissertation covers over 50 years of original songs, from the first Dokdo song, "Dokdo's Island Keeper," to the recently released "One Night in Dokdo." This project is regarded not only as a release of music tracks, but also as a historic effort to protect and promote Dokdo culturally. The songs and lyrics about Dokdo can be enjoyed on YouTube. Seo emphasized that Dokdo songs are not merely popular songs, but represent an important national cultural heritage encompassing various genres such as children's songs, Korean traditional music, and classical vocal music.
In particular, Seo spent over a decade traveling across the country with singers, composers, and lyricists to verify and collect recordings of the 193 original songs. He classified the songs based on major streaming sites such as Melon and the Korea Music Content Association, and in the process, he had to organize a vast amount of material, including more than 800 remake songs. Although this was not a complete survey, it is considered highly significant as it demonstrates that the Korean people have long sung about and protected Dokdo. Additionally, he changed the lyrics and added rap to the song "Dokdo Is Our Land," and even performed it with Japanese lyrics. He also created a new song, "New Dokdo Is Our Land," and translated and performed it in English and Spanish, thereby raising global awareness of Dokdo. Furthermore, Seo is working on compiling "A Comprehensive 50-Year History of Dokdo Songs in the Republic of Korea," which will include sheet music for all 193 songs about Dokdo. Seo stated, "Dokdo is the pride, history, and spirit of our nation," and expressed his hope that this journey would remain a cultural milestone proving Korea's love for Dokdo to the world.
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