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Sea of Japan naming dispute

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The dispute concerns the international name of this body of water

There is a dispute over the name of the sea bordered by Russia, Japan, North Korea, and South Korea. The Koreas and Japan disagree over the sea's international name.

The Japanese government insists that it be called "Sea of Japan", which it claims has been the international de facto standard since the 19th century, and is currently the most widely used name.

The Koreas contend that the name was unfairly standardized while Japan forcibly occupied Korea, and thus remains a symbol of Japan's imperialistic past. South Korea insists on the name "East Sea", claiming that the sea was known as "Sea of Korea/Corea/Joseon" or "East/Oriental Sea" until Japan's militant expansionism. South Korea proposes "East Sea" because it is one of the various English names found in historical European maps, and it claims that it is analogous to the North Sea.

Some Koreans argued against the "Sea of Japan" name since the early 1970's [1], and South Korea officially raised the issue at the United Nations immediately upon joining in 1991. Since the 1990s, South Korea has increased its efforts to change the sea's official international name. The North Korean government supports South Korea's position, but uses "East Sea of Korea" in its English publications.

The United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names (UNCSGN) and the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) have so far neither accepted nor denied Korea's claims, but left the issue open to discussion while continuing to use "Sea of Japan". The United Nations confirmed its adoption of "Sea of Japan" in its official documents in March 2004. [2] IHO and UNSCGN resolutions endorse the principle of the simultaneous use of different names when countries sharing a geographical feature do not agree on a common name. [3]

The dispute does not extend to each other's local language names. South Koreans generally do not object to Japanese maps calling the sea 日本海 (which translates as Japan Sea), and Japanese do not object to Korean maps calling it 동해 (which translates as East Sea).

Historical developments of the dispute

According to Japan's count, this sea is mainly called "Sea of Japan" on most maps earlier than the 20th century, but some maps call it by various names including "Bay of Korea", "Chinese Ocean", "Sea of Corea", "Oriental Sea", or "Sea of Korea". According to South Korea's count, it is mainly called "Sea of Korea/Corea" or "East/Oriental Sea" on most maps of the same period.

  • At the 1919 meeting of the International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB) to officially determine internationally acceptable names of bodies of water, Japanese delegates submitted the name "Sea of Japan" as the official name of the sea. At the time, Korea could not participate because it been under Japanese rule, and "Sea of Japan" had been used almost exclusively on international maps, although the parties disagree on which name was previously prevalent.
  • In 1928, Limits of Oceans and Seas, the first edition of the guideline by the IHB adopted "Japan Sea" with many other geographical names.
  • In 1974 the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) released technical resolution A.4.2.6 independently of this dispute. This resolution is frequently referred to, although it only gives general guidance. It endorses the principle that when the sharing countries of a geographical feature do not agree on a common name, the different names should be recognized simultaneously.
  • In 1977, the third UN Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names (UNCSGN) adopted resolution III/20 entitled "Names of Features beyond a Single Sovereignty". The resolution recommended:

"when countries sharing a given geographical feature do not agree on a common name, it should be a general rule of 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 as well as inexpedient in practice."

  • In 1992, South Korea raised the issue at the sixth UNCSGN. Japan objected and 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" (the then used romanization of "Donghae"), out of respect for international conventions.
  • In 1997, South Korea raised the issue again at the seventh UNCSGN and Japan opposed. The issue was not addressed but the resolution III/20 was recollected, which urges Japan and South Korea to reach a consensus. To date, however, neither country is willing to compromise their position, although Korea suggests that both names be used until the dispute is resolved.
  • In 2002, South Korea raised the issue again at the eighth UNCSGN. Japan objected again and the issue was not addressed.
  • In 2002, the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) distributed a circular letter asking for a vote for omitting pages containing the Sea of Japan from the fourth edition of Limits of Oceans and Seas. After Japan's objection, the IHO withdrew the letter.
  • On April 23 2004, the United Nations affirmed in a written document to the Japanese government that it will continue using the name "Sea of Japan" in its official documents. However, it has agreed to leave the topic open for further discussion. In a letter to South Korea, it was explained that the UN was not determining the validity of either name, but using the currently most widely used term until the parties resolved the disagreement.

Response by media and publishers

Some publishers and media outlets have responded to the dispute by either adopting both names on maps, or—in very rare cases—leaving the area blank, until a consensus can be reached between Japan and Korea. Though some have adopted the usage of both names or just "East Sea", most publishers and media outlets still use "Sea of Japan" alone.

  • In 1997, Rand McNally, one of the largest mapmakers in the United States, adopted a policy of concurrent use of both names, "East Sea" and "Sea of Japan". The Times (of London), Financial Times, Microsoft Encarta 97 World Atlas, Encyclopedia Britannica, MSN Expedia, Columbia Encyclopedia, About.com, and others have responded similarly, usually including "East Sea" as the secondary label.
  • In 1999, the National Geographic Society recognized that the name was legitimately disputed by South Korea. Under its policy (if a geographical feature is shared by more than one nation, and its name is disputed, use the most commonly recognized form of the name first and label the disputed name in parentheses), "Sea of Japan" appears as the primary label and "East Sea" appears below in parentheses. [4]

Arguments

Both sides in the dispute have put forward a number of arguments to support their claim. Many of these arguments are not supported by the respective governments, but rather by nationalist organizations. Around 2002, the volunteer Korean cyber-organization VANK began an aggressive e-mail campaign targeting webmasters, with some success but also backlash from supporters of Japan's position.

Geographical reasons

Japanese groups argue that as a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean separated by the Japanese Archipelago, the sea should be named for Japan. Of the nine other marginal seas, two are named for the marginal feature. South Korean groups argue that the sea is really located at the eastern end of the Asian continent, and thus should be called East Sea, following the example of the North Sea relative to the European continent.

Historical reasons

Both sides use a selective sample of old maps to support their claim. South Koreans use old maps that show names other than "Sea of Japan", whereas the Japanese use maps to demonstrate that the said name was in use before their imperial time. Many old maps are ambiguous and some even do not include Korea or Japan.

Japanese groups claim that the term "Sea of Japan" was originally named by Westerners and became the de-facto standard before Japan gained commercial and political influence in the region. Part of the dispute boils down to the disagreement over when "Sea of Japan" became the de facto standard. Japanese groups claim dates in the early 19th century, whereas Korean groups claim dates in the early 20th century when Korea was colonized by Japan.

South Korean groups claim historical precedence of the names "Sea of Korea" and "East Sea", and argue that "East Sea" is a more neutral name that should be restored. They regard the dominance of the name "Sea of Japan" a reflection of Japan's imperial past.

Korea even points out that a select few 19th century Japanese maps referred to the sea as the "Sea of Joseon (Korea)", including the 1855 Matsuda Rokuzan's Chikyubankoku zenzu, and the 1870 Meiji kaiteibankoku yochibunzu. Additionally, in several Japanese maps, the Pacific Ocean was called "日本海"(Japan Sea), and Sea of Japan was called "朝鮮海"(Chosen Sea).

Historical maps and studies

  • (SK) In July 2001, Korea produced a report on the names used on maps published in Europe, mostly in the 18th century, possessed by the British Library, claiming that of 90 maps which name the sea, 62 refer to it as "Sea of Korea", 8 as "East Sea", 2 as both "Sea of Korea" and "East Sea", and 10 use "Sea of Japan".[5]
  • (SK) In December 2002, South Korea produced a report on the names used on 228 maps published prior to 1800 that are held by the U.S. Library of Congress, claiming that two-thirds of the maps naming the sea used "East Sea", "Sea of Korea", or variants. Of the 103 maps that named the sea, the report claims 66 percent named it "Sea of Korea" and/or "East Sea" or variants. [6]
  • (J) In September 2003, Japan produced a report [7] on the names used on maps published in Europe between 1801 and 1861 possessed by the British Library and the University of Cambridge, claiming that in the British Library, of 37 maps [8] containing the areas surrounding the sea, 32 or 86.5% used "Sea of Japan" and 5 used "Sea of Korea". In the University of Cambridge, it found 21 maps [9] containing the areas surrounding the sea, of which 18 or 85.7% used "Sea of Japan" and 3 used "Sea of Korea". [10]
  • (J) In March 2004, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan published a report [11] with the list of maps it investigated [12] on the investigation of maps at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. The study claims that from the 1,495 maps possessed by the Bibliotheque Nationale de France and published between the 16th and 19th century show that of 407 maps for which a name was recorded, 249, or 61% bore the name "Sea of Japan" and 60, or 15% bore the name "Sea of Korea". It found no maps that bore the name "East Sea". Furthermore, the report claims, of the maps published in the first half of the 19th century, 90.0% or 99 maps bore the name "Sea of Japan" and of the maps published in the latter half of the 19th century 100% or 105 maps bore the same name. And Japan asserts that it is not rational to include the name "Oriental Sea" to the name synonymous with the "East Sea."[13]

Ownership

Some Koreans argue that "Sea of Japan" implies ownership over an international body of water. Japanese counter by saying that the name of a body of water does not imply ownership and is merely a name, mentioning some seas that contains a country's name such as Indian Ocean, South China Sea, East China Sea and Korea Strait. Some Koreans argue that the name "Sea of Japan" is related to ownership because it was the Japanese delegates who submitted the name to the IHB when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule.

Ambiguity

Japanese groups claim that the name "East Sea" is not suitable as an international geographic name, because it could refers to various places including the neighboring East China Sea. Much of this argument is based on translations of local names into English. Commonly cited potential confusions are the Vietnamese local language name for the South China Sea, "Bien Dong", which literally means "East Sea", or the Baltic Sea which in many European languages is called the equivalent of "East Sea". The Koreans state that this is irrelevant as there are other geographical places that share similar or the same name.

It is sometimes also argued that "East Sea" is a mere translation of the local Korean name "Donghae", and thus not really an English name per se. However, Both "Sea of Japan" and "East Sea" are found in older European maps, not a mere translation.

Precedence

Some Japanese groups insist that renaming or showing both simultaneously runs counter to the spirit of geographic standardization and will be a troubling precedent. Since the name "Sea of Japan" is the internationally established name, some people think renaming is an unnecessary complication. Koreans disagree stating that setting the name right is more important.

See also

  • East Sea Map Study — by the Korean Overseas Information Service
  • Sea of Japan — Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs defends the use of "Sea of Japan".
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