Altough the body of water commonly referred as the Sea of Japan, North and South Korea oppose it.

The sea is called:

• Sea of Japan - Nihonkai or Nipponkai (日本海) in Japanese, Ri`běnhǎi (日本海) in Chinese, ЯпонскоеМоре in Russian;
• East Sea - Donghae (동해; 東海) in South Korean;
• East Sea of Korea - Chosŏn Tonghae (조선동해; 朝鮮東海) in North Korean;

Some international and media organizations, however, have begun using the names "Sea of Japan" and "East Sea" together under pressure from South Korea. These actions have prompted a backlash in Japan, and the issue has not been resolved to the satisfaction of any of the three countries involved.

Details of this issue were not widely reported in English-language journals of broad readership during the 1990s, and have only begun to be covered outside of East Asia in the last several years.

This article describes the debate regarding the naming of the body of water and its historical background.

Table of contents

1 Summary of the dispute 2 History of the dispute 3 Resolutions A.4.2.6 and III/20 4 Opinions and views 5 Stories on East Sea 6 Historical Maps 7 External Links

Summary of the dispute

South Korea and North Korea claim that the names "East Sea" (South) or "East Sea of Korea" (North) should be the international name solely or at least with "Sea of Japan". They insist that the term Sea of Japan are shadows of Japanese imperialistic ambitions. They also claim that the name "East Sea" has "historical precedents" and that it should be "restored."

Japan opposes these names and claims that the name "Sea of Japan" is the sole international name for the body of water. Japan insists that renaming or showing both simultaneously runs counter to the spirit of geographic standardization and will be a troubling precedent. For Korean claims, Japan argues that the term Sea of Japan was originally named by Westerners and became the de-facto standard before she gained commerical and political influence in the region. Japan also claims that the name "East Sea" cannot be an international geographic name because such a common name refers to various places including the neighboring East China Sea.

There is currently no resolution to this debate acceptable to both countries.

History of the dispute

At a 1919 meeting of the International Hydrographic Bureau (later became the IHO) to settle upon internationally acceptable names of bodies of water, Japanese (and then colonial Korea) delegate submitted the name "Sea of Japan" as the official name of the sea. The name had already been the de facto standard.

In 1928, "Limits of Oceans and Seas", the first edition of the guideline by the IHB adopted "Japan Sea" with many other geographic names.

South Korea contends that it has raised the issue since mid-1960s, but no campaign is known until 1990s.

In 1992, South Korea raised the issue at the 6th UN Conference on the Standardization of Geographic Names (UNCSGN). Japan objected. The issue was not addressed.

In 1995, South Korea deleted "Japan Sea" from its official nautical charts. Before then, South Korea's nautical charts showed both "Japan Sea" and "Tong Hae" (an old romanization of Donghae), out of respect for international conventions.

In 1997, South Korea raised the issue again at the 7th UNCSGN and Japan opposed. The issue was not addressed but the resolution III/20 (adopted by the 3rd UNCSGN in 1977) is recollected, which urges Japan and South Korea to reach a consensus. To date, however, both contries insist on compromise of each other and failed to reach a consensus.

In 2002, South Korea raised the issue again at the 8th UNCSGN. Japan objected again. The issue was not addressed.

In 2002, International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) once distributes a circular letter asking vote for omitting pages containing the Sea of Japan from the fouth edition of "Limits of Oceans and Seas". After Japan's objection, IHO withdrawn the leter.

(when ?) VANK, a volunteer Korean cyber-organization, began a aggressive e-mail campaign. They repeatedly sent e-mail until webmasters swallow VANK's demands. Their position is:

"Using a proper name for the body of water between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago is not simply a question of changing the name of a geographical feature. It is rather a part of national effort by the Korean people to erase the legacy of their colonial past and to redress the unfairness that has resulted from it."

Resolutions A.4.2.6 and III/20

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) technical resolution A.4.2.6 (1974) is frequently referenced by this dispute. The resolution A.4.2.6 serves for IHO's own purpose.

It is recommended that where two or more countries share a given geographical feature (such as a bay, a strait, channel or archipelago) under different names, they should endeavor to reach agreement on a single name for the feature concerned. If they have different official languages and cannot agree on a common name form, it is recommended that the name forms of each of the languages in question should be accepted for charts and publications unless technical reasons prevent this practice on small scale charts. (Note: this quotation is not from the original text but a Korean web page [1]. It may not be a literal quotation.)

The Conference, that the Resolution 25 of the Second United nations Conference of the Standardization of Geographical Names be reworded as follows.

The Conference, Considering the need for international standardization of names of geographical features that are under the sovereignty of more than one country or are divided among two or more countries,

1. Recommends that countries sharing a given geographical feature under different names should endeavour, as far as possible, to reach agreement on fixing a single name for the feature concerned;

2. Further recommends that when countries sharing a given geographical feature do not succeed in agreeing on a common name, it should be a general rule of international cartography that the name used by each of the countries concerned will be accepted. A policy of accepting only one or some of such names while excluding the rest would be inconsistent in principal as well as inexpedient in practice. Only technical reasons may sometimes make it necessary , especially in the case of small-scale maps, to dispense with the use of certain names belonging to one language or another.

• Much of the problem stems from the perception that the name of a body of water indicates possession in some sense, or adds to the prestige of the bordering country. Both Koreas want the name to reflect the perspective of Korea. South Koreans figure that since the sea is to the East of Korea, it should be called the East Sea. North Korea's government (separately) makes a similar argument for the slightly longer term East Sea of Korea. Japan steadfastly rejects any change.
• East See does not make a sense for the whole world except for Koreans. Such wording had better be reserved as a prerogative of Europeans and Americans, as long as we use English as the international language. Takanoha
• Both Sea of Japan or Sea of Korea are more neutral. Aside from the fact that Sea of Japan is firmly establised, Sea of Korea makes more sense for Japanese, because the sea is between our land and Korea. Historically, many Japanese roads, passes, and channels are named by this manner. Takanoha
• Japanese imperialism, compounded with their tendency to revise history and distort historical facts, have given rise to the current appellation of Sea of Japan.
• It is worth noting that for the Japanese people the word for "East Sea" indicates the other side of the Sea of Japan. It is one of the reasons that Japanese strongly oppose the name "East Sea." Confusion is an obvious result if both sides of a nation are called by the same name. But in fact however it is not an uncommon situation. In Japanese, the western region of Honshu is called Chugoku (中国), which also means China.
• The "Sea of Japan" was not named by the Japanese people.

Koreans seek "historical precedents" of the name "East Sea" on old Western maps, which have no direct relation to South Korean "East Sea," the English translation of Donghae. Koreans argue the name East Sea or other similar terms was predominant in pre-19th-century maps. In addition, they argue that the Sea of Japan was designated in pre-19th-century maps as "Sea of Corea" and "Oriental Sea." (See [1], where the sea is variously labelled either in English as "Oriental Sea" or "Sea of Korea," or in French or Latin in equivalent terms.

Japan's surveys show that various names including "Sea of Japan," "Sea of Korea," "Oriental Sea" but that no term was dominant until "Sea of Japan" became the de facto standard in the early 19th century ([1]). Regarding Korea's survey, there is no old Western map that shows exactly "East Sea". It is difficult to find any relativity of "East Sea" and "Sea of Korea." "Oriental Sea" was sometimes shown on East China Sea or to the south of Japan at 17th and 18th century maps. This proves that, as the vague name suggests, "Oriental Sea" was not an established name. In addition, some 19th-century maps show "Eastern Sea" on the East China Sea.

Asians in general have traditionally named surrounding seas with their respective directions: for Koreans in particular, they are: namhae (south sea), donghae (east sea) and seohae (west sea). They were vaguely used and their boundaries were ambiguous. It is uncertain when donghae was first perceived as the equivalent of Sea of Japan. At the end of the 20th century Donghae was translated into English and the use of "East Sea" began. Koreans also call the Yellow Sea "West Sea", however, Koreans have never made a claim against China. Japan criticizes Korea's double standard.

The equivocality "East Sea" has made it almost impossible to become an international geographic name. Koreans assert that "East Sea" means east of the Asian Continent. What is located to the east of the Asian Continent is not only the Sea of Japan but also the East China Sea and the South China Sea, and these seas are called "East Sea" by Chinese and Vietnamese respectively.

In China, the East China Sea is referred to as "Dong Hai" (東海, pinyin dong1 hai3; Wade-Giles Tung Hai), literally meaning "East Sea". The name Dong Hai has already been registered as "East China Sea" in The Limits of Oceans and Seas published by IHO.

The Vietnamese name for the South China Sea is Bien Dong (Biển Đông), which literally means East Sea. They also use "East Sea" in English.

Japan is a special case. Japanese names Saikaido (West-sea-route) and Tokaido (East-sea-route) both refer to the Pacific coastal regions of Japan, west and east from Kyoto, respectively. Saikaido is now obsolete, but Tokaido is still in use. Tokai (東海) today indicates the coastral region around Nagoya and Shizuoka, in other words, on the other side of the Sea of Japan.

An official name for a geographic feature is translated into each language. It is obvious that if the name "East Sea" were to become official, name collisions will occur in many languages. The North Koreans demand "East Sea of Korea". This leads to several questions: What will happen if Madagascar renames the Indian Ocean to "East Ocean", Australia proposes "West Ocean" and Pakistan asks for "Pakistani Ocean"? Should the international organizations approve them and rename it to "East/Indian/Pakistani/West Ocean"?

Historical Maps

According to the Korean government [1], the following maps indicate that Sea of Japan does not historically reflect how this area was named before the 19th century. They are available for online viewing at the University of Southern California's online archive.

Readers will also notice that the historical transliteration for 'Korea' is consistently Corea in French, Italian and English, without exception.

• Japan Sea in World Atlas by Matteo Ricci in 1602
• MAR CORIA in the Chart of Asia by Manuel Godinho in 1615
• MAR DI CORAI in the Map of East Asia by Sir Robert Dudley in 1647
• Ocean Oriental in the map of Philippe Briet in 1650
• MAR DE CORÉE in the Map of Japanese Islands by Jean Baptiste Traemier in 1679
• MER ORIENTALE OU MER DE CORÉE in the Map of Indo-China by Guillaum de L'isle, French geographer in 1705
• Sea of Corea in the Map of East Asia by John Green in 1747
• MER DE CORÉE in the Map of China published in France in 1748
• M. DE CORÉE in the Chart of Asia published in France in 1761
• MAR DI COREA in the Map of Asian Countries created with new methods by Prof. Antonio Chata and supported by the Senate of Venice, Italy in 1777
• SEA OF COREA in the China section of a British Encyclopaedia in 1778
• Sea of Corea in the Map of Russia by Bowen in 1780
• MER DE CORÉE in the Map of Asia Dealing with Regions and Countries, in the possession of Spanish National Library in Madrid, in 1785
• COREAN SEA in Asian Islands and Regions created in London, England in 1794
• GULF OF COREA in the map created by Samuel Dhun in London and published by Laurie and Whittle in 1794
• MER DE CORÉE in the Atlas of Asia created by Dezauche, a French geographer, in 1800
• MER DE CORÉE OU DU JAPON, (Sea of Korea marked with bigger typography) in the Atlas of Asia by Dezauche in 1805
• COREAN SEA in Cook's Voyages published in London to mark Captain Cook's exploratory route in 1808
• GULF OF COREA in Lizars' Chart of Asia published in London in 1833
• GULF OF COREA in Lizars' Chart of Asia published in London in 1840
• SEA OF COREA in General World Map created by Wyld, a Briton, in 1845

• Sea of Japan Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Naming of "Japan Sea" Japan Coast Guard
• Western Maps and Korea Korean Information Service
• Rediscover the Proper Name for Korea's "East Sea" Korean.net

• The Sea of Japan and Koreans
• Koreas unite against Japan BBC News, August 16, 2002
• A sea by any other name Guardian, August 23, 2002
• Background on the name dispute

See also: Korean-Japanese disputes