By Lee Dasom
Video = Official YouTube channel of Gyeongbuk Arts & Culture Foundation's Creative Contents Agency

A video on the history of sapsalgae, an indigenous dog species known as the "protector of Dokdo Island," was released on Feb. 27 to mark the upcoming March First Independence Movement Day.

Seo Kyoung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women's University, and the Creative Contents Agency under the Gyeongbuk Arts & Culture Foundation jointly produced the four-minute video in both Korean and English.

In the video, actor Kim Nam-gil narrates the 2,000-year history of the breed and explains how this species earned its nickname "Dokdo protector" in 1998. The clip also chronicles sapsalgae from its brink of extinction during Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula to its preservation through restoration projects, leading up to its designation as Natural Monument No. 368 in 1992.

The professor said, "Many netizens are familiar with gangchi (sea lions native to Dokdo), a symbol of Dokdo, but few know about the history of sapsalgae that protect Dokdo, so I wanted to raise awareness of the breed both at home and abroad through a multilingual video."

The agency will feature the breed alongside gangchi, the symbol of Dokdo, as the main characters in animated content under production about Dokdo to familiarize people with the dog.

"This video is the second clip to promote the Dokdo animation, following the first on gangchi, and was created to inform the public on the history and significance of sapsalgae, as well as its value as a character in new content," agency head Lee Jong-soo said.

"We will feature as characters a variety of animals and plants related to the island like these two species to boost global awareness of our country's Dokdo."

The video is available on the agency's official YouTube channel.

dlektha0319@korea.kr