Sea of Japan naming dispute

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.^[1] The Japanese government supports the exclusive use of the name "Sea of Japan" (Japanese: 日本海, Hepburn: Nihon-kai), while South Korea supports the alternative name "East Sea" (Korean: 동해; Hanja: 東海), and North Korea supports the name "Korean East Sea" (조선동해; 朝鮮東海). 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. ^[2][3][4][5]

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.^[6]

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.^[6] 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.