US State Department restores Dokdo on its map of Korea
By Kim Hyo-jin
U.S. State Department’s revised map showing “Liancourt Rocks”
The U.S. State Department has restored Dokdo on its maps of Korea, Monday (local time), ending a controversy over the disappearance of Korea’s easternmost islets from its charts.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday called on the U.S. to include the reference on its maps.
“As soon as we found the removal, we delivered our stance through diplomatic channels, demanding corrective measures,” a foreign ministry official said.
A day after the request, the U.S. State Department revised the map to show “Liancourt Rocks” on its maps of Korea.
The U.S. has referred to the Dokdo islets as “Liancourt Rocks” in both maps of Korea and Japan on its government websites, in taking a neutral stance over both nations’ claims of sovereignty. Korea and Japan have long been engaged in territorial disputes over the islets known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan.
“Liancourt Rocks” is a neutral name that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) gave to the islets after the French whaling vessel Le Liancourt nearly collided with them in 1894.
However, it was reported Monday that the reference slipped off the updated map of Korea on the U.S. consular affairs bureau website while it remained on its map of Japan, giving the impressions that the islets belong to Japan.
The map that introduces Korea on the website was reportedly updated in October, but it is not known whether the reference to Dokdo disappeared from October or before.
In January, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) restored the reference to Dokdo in its World Factbook, following the foreign ministry’s request.
The ministry official speculated that the incorrect CIA’s map was also used on the State Department’s website. However, he failed to confirm the exact reason of the removal.