Dokdo or Takeshima.
The Boston Globe’s Big Picture has a photo series about the Dokdo/Takeshima debate that is currently raging between South Korea and Japan. The debate is over a small group of islands between Japan and Korea. The islands have only two full time residents and a small handfull of visitors and other people that work on the island off and on. There is really not much in the way of resources to speak of yet the claim as to who “owns” the island rages on. It is currently under Korean jusisdiction but Japan claims that they had control of the island before Korea did, Korea makes the counter claim that it was stolen by the Japanese during the second World War.
This is a matter of national contention in Korea, during my time there it was common to see my students wearing “Dokdo is ours’ T-shirts and getting noticeably upset when talking about the issue. These are Primary school children mind you, getting upset over the ownership status of a small island with next to no economic value. (There are claims that there is oil in the seas around Dokdo but to the best of my knowledge I know of no substantiatation of these claims. More likely it is just a way to justify what to the outside world would seem like a pissing contest between Korea and Japan.) There have also been major protests with a mother and son going so far as cutting off a finger each in protest to Japan’s claims of ownership.
Frankly I think it is a bit silly to get so upset about such a small piece of land that has two residents and next to no value outside being part of the national pride. It only serves to widen a gap between Korea and Japan that is wide enough already. Korea is there now, they have no itention of giving up the island, it has no real value so why not just leave it be? Better yet, why not put aside silly squabbles that have been raging since Japan’s occupation of Korea which ended more than 50 years ago and make Dokdo/Takeshima into an island that bridges that gap between the two countries who traditionally have been at odds.