NEW YORK (Yonhap News) ― South Korea has garnered growing international support of its diplomatic efforts in the United Nations on the naming of the waters separating the Korean Peninsula and Japan, a senior diplomat said Tuesday.
International organizations formally call the waters “the Sea of Japan” but South and North Korea contend the original name of the “East Sea” should be used at least concurrently.
The two Koreas’ war of diplomacy against Japan has continued during the 10th U.N. Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names, which opened on July 31 at the U.N. headquarters and will end later this week. It sets the stage for experts from around the world to discuss key issues related to the handling of place names.
Witnessing the three-way debate held late Monday, two countries ― France and Qatar ― spoke in favor of Seoul’s move for a non-binding practice of using both names in case of disputes between countries.
France said the concurrent usage is desirable, citing such examples based upon the diversity of languages, while Qatar expressed its hope for an amicable agreement between the two opinions.
“The two countries’ remarks in favor of us carry significance, as no countries have bothered to be involved in this sensitive issue of diplomacy so far,” said South Korean Ambassador Chang Dong-hee, who is in charge of naming issues in the international arena.
During the meeting, Japan reiterated its claim that the single name should be maintained and said the meeting is not an appropriate venue for discussing such a matter, while Seoul put forth detailed statistics to show the concurrent usage of the two names is becoming an international trend.
North Korea denounced the name, “Sea of Japan,” as a remnant of Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
The ongoing U.N. conference is not expected to produce a conclusion on the sensitive issue but is considered important in enhancing the awareness and understanding of the issue by the international community.
In April, the South Korean government made a strong pitch for the East Sea to be used on official maps of the international community during a meeting of the International Hydrographic Organization.
The IHO, however, decided not to revise its current “Sea of Japan” appellation this time. The next session will be held in 2017.
“Some 28.1 percent of world maps adopt both names as of 2009, which is nearly 10 times larger than in 2000,” Chang said. “The government, in cooperation with civilian groups, will continue diplomatic efforts for the original term ‘East Sea’ in the international arena.”
In a recent example, the French publisher Atlas used the names “MER DE L’EST (East Sea)” and “MER DU JAPON (Sea of Japan)” printed in equal same size on eight maps of its 2012 “World Atlas.” It is the first time the Korean name for the waters has been used concurrently and treated equally with the Japanese name by a top atlas publisher.
