“Rock to ring out at the Yellow Sea’s far edge, where birds once flew” ... First-ever concert on Gyeongnyeolbiyeoldo

[Financial News, Hongseong = Reporter Kim Won-jun] To mark Dokdo Day (October 25), the first-ever live popular music performance will be held on Gyeongnyeolbiyeoldo in Taean, South Chungcheong Province, a key strategic point in South Korea’s maritime territory at the westernmost edge of the Yellow Sea.
South Chungcheong Province said on the 25th that it would hold a special concert featuring singer Kim Jang-hoon at noon on the 26th near the lighthouse on Bukgyeongnyeolbido in Geunheung-myeon, Taean County.
The performance was planned to highlight the strategic importance of South Korea’s maritime territory and shed light on the historical and geographical value of Gyeongnyeolbiyeoldo, a relatively unfamiliar “Dokdo of the Yellow Sea.”
Singer Kim Jang-hoon, who has long been at the forefront of defending the Liancourt Rocks and raising awareness of South Korea’s maritime territory, is set to present a meaningful performance in harmony with the island’s natural surroundings alongside the band “Hanguk Saram.” The concert will be held without an on-site audience, taking into account the poor berthing conditions on Bukgyeongnyeolbido and the need to protect the environment. It will, however, be livestreamed in real time on Kim’s official YouTube channel and “Chungnam TV,” the official YouTube channel of South Chungcheong Province, allowing people across the country to watch together online.
Gyeongnyeolbiyeoldo, located 55 km west of Anheung Port in Taean, takes its name from its resemblance to birds flying in formation. It consists of three main islands—the northern, western and eastern islands—and their associated islets, with a total area of 514,603 square meters, about 2.7 times the area of the Liancourt Rocks (187,554 square meters). Seogyeongnyeolbido, in particular, is the westernmost territorial-sea base point, serving as the reference for South Korea’s territorial sea in the Yellow Sea (12 nautical miles) and its exclusive economic zone (EEZ; 200 nautical miles). It is a strategic security point for defending maritime territory and protecting fishery resources.
Meanwhile, South Chungcheong Province Governor Park Soo-hyun visited Gyeongnyeolbiyeoldo on the 10th to review progress on the port development project. Gyeongnyeolbiyeoldo Port, designated a nationally managed coastal port, was officially designated in July 2022 and was finally included in the Port Master Plan in September last year. Basic and detailed design work is currently under way, and the port development is scheduled for completion by 2030. South Chungcheong Province expects the completed port to serve as a base for defending the territory by ensuring the safety of vessels seeking shelter and enabling a faster response to illegal fishing through shorter dispatch distances for Coast Guard and fisheries patrol vessels.
Attempts by foreign investors, including Chinese nationals, to buy parts of Gyeongnyeolbiyeoldo came to light in the past, greatly raising public awareness of maritime security and national security assets. As the islands’ strategic significance as the westernmost territorial-sea base point in the Yellow Sea came into focus, the government and local authorities actively pursued the purchase of privately owned land on key islands that serve as territorial-sea base points and accelerated efforts to establish geopolitical safeguards against encroachment on national territory by outside capital. Gyeongnyeolbiyeoldo subsequently reached a turning point, becoming part of a national management system to preserve its geopolitical value for the public.
[email protected] Kim Won-jun Reporter