Singer Kim Changyeol: "Retaliatory Entry Ban in Japan... Said It Was Absolutely Impossible Because of 'This'"

Traveled to Japan with a member of the Headquarters for the Love of Dokdo Movement
"I visited Japan last year, so this feels like retaliation...
They took issue with an old drunk-driving record"

Kim Changyeol, a member of the group DJ DOC, stated that he was denied entry to Japan after traveling there ahead of the "Takeshima Day" event (Takeshima is the name Japan uses to claim Dokdo).

Singer Kim Changyeol. Yonhap News

On the 22nd, the Headquarters of Love for Dokdo announced on Instagram, "We visited Shimane Prefecture on the 19th together with Honorary Ambassador Kim Changyeol to look around the site where historical distortions about Dokdo are taking place in Shimane Prefecture, but we were denied entry in what we see as retaliatory measures over Dokdo." Kim Changyeol is serving as an honorary ambassador for the incorporated association Headquarters of the Love for Dokdo Movement.

The organization said, "Honorary Ambassador Kim Changyeol was deported back to Korea immediately upon arrival on the grounds of a past drunk driving record from 1999," adding, "I myself was detained under the pretext of a five-hour interview and baggage search, but in the end I was refused landing on the grounds that I was engaged in promotional activities related to Dokdo." It continued, "We ended up in a situation where we could not secure a flight back to Korea right away, nor could we find accommodation," and "The airport authorities kept taking an irresponsible attitude, saying it is not a 24-hour airport and telling us to work it out with the airline."

The organization went on to say, "We also asked the Korean consulate for assistance but were unable to receive any help," asserting, "When a citizen of the Republic of Korea needed their country, the Republic of Korea was nowhere to be found." It added that there had been no problems when they previously used other airports in Japan. He said, "This entry refusal is Japan's political retaliation and targeted screening aimed at blocking visits by figures related to Dokdo on the occasion of 'Takeshima Day,'" and stressed, "Our headquarters strongly condemns such irrational retaliatory measures."

Kim Changyeol also said in an interview with Yonhap News the same day, "On the 19th, while undergoing immigration screening at Yonago Airport in Japan, I was denied entry on the grounds that I had a prior drunk driving record," and "When I visited Japan on a personal trip last year, I entered without any problems." He added, "I was not given any explanation that my activities related to Dokdo were an issue; they only kept repeating the firm position that 'entry is not allowed for any reason,'" and claimed, "In fact, I had no intention of visiting the 'Takeshima Day' event venue, nor any specific plan to do anything there, but the Japanese side targeted us and refused us entry."

Meanwhile, Japan's Shimane Prefecture unilaterally issued a public notice on February 22, 1905, incorporating Dokdo into its administrative district, and in connection with the 100th anniversary, enacted an ordinance in March 2005 designating "Takeshima Day." Since 2006, it has designated February 22 as "Takeshima Day" and has held annual commemorative events. On this day as well, Shimane Prefecture and others held a "Takeshima Day" event in Matsue City, with a vice-minister-level official dispatched by the Japanese government in attendance.

The Korean government, in response to Shimane Prefecture pushing ahead with the "Takeshima Day" event, stated, "We once again sternly urge that the event be abolished immediately," and emphasized, "We strongly protest Japan's repeated unjust territorial claims over Dokdo."

Professor Seo Kyungduk of Sungshin Women's University also wrote on social media (SNS), "I sent a protest email to Shimane Governor Tatsuya Maruyama," adding, "No matter how they forcibly hold this event for more than 20 years, Dokdo will not become Japanese territory. This is because Dokdo is clearly the territory of the Republic of Korea in terms of history, geography, and international law."