Sea of Japan it is
Despite years of tantrum throwing by Korea, the 9th Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names has ruled that the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan shall continue to be called the Sea of Japan, just as it has been for centuries.
“I encourage the three countries concerned to find a solution acceptable to all of them, taking into account any relevant solutions, or else to agree to differ and to report the outcome of these discussions to the next conference,” F.J. Ormeling, chair of the session at the ninth conference on the standardization of geographical names, said Monday.
Both North and South Korea have been lobbying to change the name to Sea of Korea or East Sea basically because they hate anything that has the name “Japan” in it, claiming Sea of Korea or East Sea has been the name used in Korea for more than 2,000 years and Sea of Japan is a product of Japan’s colonial past.
Japan’s position on the matter seems to be more logical.
“First, (the) Sea of Japan is the only name for the sea area concerned that has been established both historically and internationally,” Jiro Kodera, a member of Japan’s U.N. mission and its representative at the conference, said in prepared remarks.
He also argued that the term was in use in the late 18th and early 19th century, predating Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula.
Kodera said the issue has been raised by North and South Korea as a “bilateral and political claim,” and it should be settled among the parties without taking it to the conference.
In addition to claiming the term has been authorized by the United Nations, he said, “My delegation firmly believes that it is high time for this issue to be put to rest and for us to turn our attention to the true aims of this conference.”
Korea is not at all satisfied with the result, claiming that Japan’s stance during any bilateral discussion of the issue is inflexible.
No doubt finger chopping, flag burning, self-immolation, screeching, and claims of worldwide disdain for Korea as a small nation are sure to follow.
Koreans will probably use ‘Donghae’ in their textbooks or maps instead of ’sea of Japan’, which is fine by me. I know some Koreans already prefer ‘Corea’. Now we outrank Japan in alphabetical order by several letters!
But they clearly want the rest of the world to agree to the ‘east sea’ moniker. As if most of the western world would care. I doubt most American kids could even point out Korea on a map, much less Japan.
Dokdo is definitely Korean land and we should protest Japan’s attempt to distory history (I realize both China and Korea are revisionists as well) but this the ‘east sea’ controversy is overblown.
August 29th, 2007 at 4:01 pmIn other news, the English Channel will be renamed the East Channel. And Koreans were mad that K comes after J, and their international code is 82, when Japan’s is 81.
August 29th, 2007 at 4:59 pmsorry to contradict you “ppayne” - Calais belongs to England (unbeknownest to the Frogs)..so it is the English Channel.
And has been since the 14th Century.
remora
(*_*)
August 29th, 2007 at 7:49 pmBakjae: I’m not a Korea watcher. But I know there are already following conflicts between Japan and South Korea.
1. Sea of Japan(East Sea)
2. Takeshima(Dokdo)
3. Korean Comfort Women in wartime
4. Yasukuni Shrine(Class A war criminals)
5. Japanese History Textbooks(Wartime Descriptions)
6. Compensations for former Korean-Japanese soldiers.
7. Pro-Japanese Collaborators in South Korea
Like other people in Japan, I’m not so much interested in Nr. 1 and Nr. 2. Only Koreans are excited.
The recognition is depending on the side to see in the phenomenon. The same thing about ” the history recognition ” which is connected with the national interest of the country. For the solution, one proposal is the conference by the experts of both country, which is the genuine way in such a case. I
consider that establishment is very effective.
As for Nr. 6 and Nr. 7, they are more domestic problems in Korea. I don’t think it’s desirable for Korean people that all those issues are used politically for the ruling government.
August 29th, 2007 at 9:47 pmActually, you have it wrong. The IHO does NOT endorse one name over another. They will leave it blank in all official documents until the conflicting countries all agree on the dispute.
Plus, can you give examples of the sea between Eurasia and Japan being called “Sea of Japan” for ‘centuries’? I heard from reliable sources that the Japanese used to call the Atlantic Ocean the “Sea of Japan” while calling the current Sea of Japan (East Sea), the “Sea of Chosen”.
Also, TofuUnion, numbers 3 and 4 is a conflict arising between Japan and most East Asian nations (China, SK, etc.) while number 7 is purely a domestic, Korean-only issue. I wouldn’t say “
August 29th, 2007 at 11:10 pmUpdate: Numbers 3, 4 AND 5 are issues not just restricted to Japan-SK relations. Plus, I wouldn’t say “Korean Comfort Women” because it encompasses a wide range of different nationalities from Korean to Duth to Chinese.
August 29th, 2007 at 11:12 pmAs the post says, “the term was in use in the late 18th and early 19th century,” hence “for centuries.”
They will leave it blank in all official documents until the conflicting countries all agree on the dispute.
I have no idea whether that is true or not. In either case, it is the dumbest notion I have heard for a long time.
August 29th, 2007 at 11:57 pm[...] and claims of worldwide disdain for Korea as a small nation are sure to follow.” Via Japundit Sea Of Japan It Is [Link] Despite Korean efforts, geographic conference backs Sea of Japan name [Link] [...]
August 30th, 2007 at 2:29 amThey barely have half as much coastline there as either Japan or Russia so their reasoning makes no sense from a geographical standpoint. The Japanese islands define that sea, hence the name!!
August 30th, 2007 at 12:47 pmI’m with Duo on this one. If the Japanese islands didn’t exist, there would be no sea, it would just be a (nameless) part of the Pacific Ocean.
August 31st, 2007 at 4:35 am