A dispute exists over the international name for the body of water which is bordered by Japan, Korea (North and South) and Russia. In 1992, objections to the name Sea of Japan were first raised by North Korea and South Korea at the Sixth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names. The Japanese government supports the exclusive use of the name , while South Korea supports the alternative name "East Sea" (), and North Korea supports the name "Korean East Sea" (). Currently, most international maps and documents use either the name Sea of Japan (or equivalent translation) by itself, or include both the name Sea of Japan and East Sea, often with East Sea listed in parentheses or otherwise marked as a secondary name. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) adopted the name “Japan Sea” in 1929 publication “Limits of Oceans and Seas (S-23)”, and maintained it in subsequent editions in 1939 and 1953. The primary reasons for this adoption was that Japan was an emerging global power with significant international influence, while Korea was under Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945) and Korean War (1950–1953). South Korea has challenged this since gaining independence, arguing they had no opportunity to participate in the naming process. Their diplomatic efforts have led the IHO to acknowledge the dispute. The attempt to publish a new edition of "Limits of Oceans and Seas" has been delayed for decades because of the inability to resolve this naming dispute."IHO rejects Japan's proposal to rule out East Sea name",The Korea Times, 26 April 2012.", Stars and Stripes, 28 April 2012, p. 5."IHO Puts Off East Sea Decision Until 2017" , The Chosun Ilbo, 26 April 2012, Retrieved 26 July 2013.
In 2020, the IHO has moved toward a new standard (S-130), which uses numerical identifiers for sea areas instead of sea area names in S-23.
The involved countries (especially Japan and South Korea) have advanced a variety of arguments to support their preferred name(s). Many of the arguments revolve around determining when the name Sea of Japan became the common name. South Korea argues that historically the more common name was East Sea, Sea of Korea, or another similar variant. South Korea further argues that the name Sea of Japan did not become common until Korea was under Japanese rule, at which time it had no ability to influence international affairs. Japan argues that the name Sea of Japan has been the most common international name since at least the beginning of the 19th century, long before its annexation of Korea, and it was in use during its period of isolation when Japan had little to no contact with foreign nations. Both sides have conducted studies of antiquarian maps, but the two countries have produced divergent research results. Additional arguments have been raised regarding the underlying geography of the sea as well as potential problems regarding the ambiguity of one name or the other.
Arguments
Both sides in the dispute have put forward a number of arguments to support their claims.
Arguments based on historical maps
Arguments from South Korea
According to South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the name East Sea (Donghae(동해)) can be found in various historical records produced in the span of over 2,000 years, including the History of the Three Kingdoms (1145), the monument of King Gwanggaeto (414), and "Map of Eight Provinces of Korea" (, 1530). According to such records, the name East Sea is almost 1,700 years older than the first documented world map to name the area the Sea of Japan, the Kunyu Wanguo Quantu (坤輿萬國全圖), which was drawn by the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci in China (1602). No Japanese record published up to the late-18th century indicated any name for the body of water. Furthermore, South Korea has pointed out that Japan itself recognized the sea as Sea of Joseon (Korea) not Sea of Japan since some 18th and 19th-century Japanese maps referred to the sea as Chōsenkai (朝鮮海, literally Sea of Joseon), including the , Map of Asia (亞細亞全圖, 1794) which was drawn by Katsuragawa Hoshu (桂川甫周) and the . Additionally, it specifically states that the name Sea of Japan was not widely used, even in Japan, as late as the mid 19th century. Moreover, South Korea argues that it was unable to present its case for the name 'East Sea' internationally because it was under Japan's colonial rule and in the midst of the Korean War. South Korea began advocating for the use of "East Sea" internationally in 1992, when it participated in the UN Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names.
Arguments from Japan The Japanese government claims that the name Sea of Japan had been internationally used since the 17th century and established by the early 19th century, during which Japan was under an isolationist policy (Sakoku) of the Tokugawa shogunate that restricted cultural exchange and commerce with foreign countries except China and the Netherlands until 1854. Accordingly, they state, Japan could not have, at that time, had an influence on the international community regarding the naming of the sea.
The invention of the marine chronometer in the late 18th century enabled Western explorers, such as Jean-François de Galaup from France, William Robert Broughton from Britain, and Adam Johann von Krusenstern (Ivan Fyodorovich Kruzenshtern) from Russia, to measure time and longitudes on the sea precisely and map the detailed shape of the Sea of Japan. Krusenstern was an admiral and explorer, who led the first Russian circumnavigation of the globe. According to Japanese records, it was Krusenstern who popularized the name "Mer du Japon" (Sea of Japan) in the West. In his work "Reise um die Welt in den Jahren" (1812), he wrote, "People also call this sea area the Sea of Korea, but because only a small part of this sea touches the Korean coast, it is better to name it the Sea of Japan." The original book was published in St. Petersburg in German and Russian, translated into Dutch, French, Swedish, Italian, and English, and distributed widely among Europe. As a result, the international name of the sea changed from no name to the Sea of Japan, on the maps drawn by countries other than Japan or Korea during the 17th to 20th centuries. Thus, the Japanese side argues that the South Koreans misunderstand the history of the name.
Surveys of antiquarian maps + The comparison of surveys of antiquarian maps by the government of Japan and South KoreaCentury 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century Unknown TotalSurveyed by Japan Korea Japan Korea Japan Korea Japan Korea Japan Japan Korea Surveyed in US FR DE Total Total US FR DE Total Total US FR DE RU Total Total US FR DE RU UK Total Total FR US FR DE RU UK Total TotalSea of Japan 1 0 1 2 - 3 14 5 22 17 47 24 23 2 96 36 1059 206 487 27 50 1829 69 10 1110 254 516 29 50 1959 122East Sea 0 0 3 3 - 0 0 0 0 39 5 0 7 1 13 341 1 0 3 0 0 4 60 0 6 0 13 1 0 20 440Sea of Korea 0 2 0 2 2 4 2 8 94 49 159 5 307 92 6 37 4 8 147 7 188 68 198 9 8 471 Oriental Sea 0 0 3 3 4 20 14 38 14 4 57 – 75 2 0 3 – – 5 8 20 32 77 – – 129Sea of China 3 5 12 25 16 11 36 18 86 28 8 6 8 1 56 10 0 5 1 0 – 32 - 4 22 56 39 1 – 203 54 Others 0 5 13 3 18 41 17 16 – 80 22 4 – – 12 42 43 – – 146 No entryand notdetermined 32 – 44 76 83 – 83 166 116 – 152 4 272 109 – 120 5 – 234 – 340 – 399 9 – 748 Total 36 7 68 111 29 106 74 140 320 125 301 83 422 13 819 467 1285 217 655 36 58 2251 141 29 1728 410 1285 49 58 3530 762
To provide evidence for the date when Sea of Japan came to be used internationally, both South Korea and Japan have undertaken surveys of various historical maps.
In 2004, South Korea surveyed ancient maps archived in the British Library, the Cambridge University Library, the University of Southern California (USC) East Asian Map Collection, the U.S. Library of Congress, the National Library of Russia, and the French National Library. South Korean researchers examined 762 maps. They found that 440 maps had used Sea of Korea (Corea), Oriental Sea/East Sea, 122 had used Sea of Japan, and 200 had used other terms. In the French language, the word orientale includes both the meaning of "eastern" related to compass direction and the meaning of "oriental", the Asiatic region. The same ambiguity is present in the Russian language, with both "eastern" and "oriental" indicated by one word.
From 2003 to 2008, Japan conducted a number of surveys of different collections. In 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan published their conclusions; they found that among 1,332 maps from the Berlin Library, 279 used Sea of Korea, Oriental Sea, or East Sea (or some combination thereof), 579 used Sea of Japan exclusively, 47 used China Sea (with or without other names), 33 used other term, and 384 used no term. The ministry said the Struck collection (a collection of antiquarian maps owned by a European map collector) showed that out of 79 maps, 35 used Sea of Japan, 9 used the Sea of Korea, 2 used Oriental Sea, and 33 were unmarked. It also reported that among four Russian libraries and document archives holding 51 maps, 29 used Sea of Japan, 8 used Sea of Korea, 1 used Korea Strait, 1 used East Sea, 1 used Sea of China, and 11 used no name. Among 1,213 maps from the U.S. Library of Congress, the ministry said, ones that gave a name for this body of water showed that 87 percent used Sea of Japan, 8 percent used Sea of Korea, 5 percent used other terms, and none used Oriental Sea or East Sea. Similarly, the ministry said that 58 maps from the British Library and the University of Cambridge showed 86 percent used Sea of Japan, 14 percent used Sea of Korea, and none used Oriental Sea, East Sea, or other terms. The ministry said that they looked at 1,495 maps in the French National Library. They reported that 61 percent of 407 maps published between the 16th and 19th century bore the name Sea of Japan and 15 percent bore the name Sea of Korea, while 95 percent of 215 maps published in the 19th century used Sea of Japan.
Geographical arguments Japan argues that, the name Sea of Japan has been and should be used because the marginal sea is separated from the Pacific Ocean by the Japanese archipelago. Korea argues that the adjective "East" describes its geographical position east of the Asian continent, although it is west of Japan and south of Russia. It states that this is analogous to the North Sea, which lies north of the European continent, but west of Scandinavian countries and east of Great Britain.
Arguments relating to ambiguity
The Japanese Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department of the Japanese Coast Guard has claimed that the name East Sea is confusing and unsuitable as an international geographic name, because the local name for a variety of seas can be translated into English as East Sea. Examples include Dōng Hǎi (东海), the Chinese name for the East China Sea; Biển Đông, the Vietnamese name for the South China Sea; and the Baltic Sea, whose name is equivalent to East Sea in several European languages such as German (Ostsee), Swedish (Östersjön) and Finnish (Itämeri). East Sea is officially used as an English name for the body of water by the Government of Vietnam and the Government of Vietnam thusly uses East Sea for South China Sea in its English-language publications; likewise, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China uses 'East Sea' for the East China Sea in its English-language publications. Even within Japan itself the term is already used to refer to the parts of the Pacific Ocean east of middle and upper Honshu, as can be seen in the naming of the Tōkaidō region and the Tōkai region. The Japanese government argues that the name change could set a bad precedent and cause more naming disputes worldwide.
Position of international bodies The main two international organizations which have been involved in the naming dispute are the International Hydrographic Organization and the United Nations.