Which institutions did VANK say still use only Sea of Japan for the waters between Korea and Japan?

VANK said at least 10 major overseas institutions use only Sea of Japan. The examples it named included the U.S. Department of State, NASA, the FAO, Britannica and National Geographic.

Why did VANK say the Sea of Japan labeling is a bigger problem in the age of AI?

VANK argued that more than 1.2 billion people worldwide use generative AI, so incorrect place names could spread widely if respected institutions feed mistaken labels into training data. It also said official government domains are likely to rank highly in search results.

How did VANK describe the inconsistencies in educational and database content about East Sea?

VANK said Britannica Kids Student Edition uses both East Sea and Sea of Japan for Korea-related entries, while Japan-related entries use only Sea of Japan. It also said National Geographic Kids labels the same page inconsistently, and AGROVOC omits East Sea in English.

VANK fears 'Sea of Japan' still widely used worldwide for East Sea

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Summary

VANK said Friday that at least 10 major overseas institutions still use only Sea of Japan for the waters between Korea and Japan. The Seoul-based group cited the U.S. Department of State, NASA, FAO, Britannica and National Geographic as examples. It warned that such naming could spread further through AI training data and search results.

Key Facts

VANK said it reviewed 10 foreign government agencies and international databases for the naming of the body of water between Korea and Japan.
The organizations cited included the U.S. Department of State, NASA, the FAO, Britannica and National Geographic.
VANK said the U.S. State Department travel advisory page for Korea uses only Sea of Japan, while NASA satellite imagery content also uses the term in text and maps.
Britannica Kids Student Edition lists East Sea alongside Sea of Japan for Korea-related entries, but Japan-related entries use only the Japanese name, according to VANK.
National Geographic Kids showed inconsistent labeling on the same page, with Sea of Japan in the main text and East Sea on an accompanying map, while AGROVOC omits East Sea from its English-language entries.

By Yonhap

Published Aug 14, 2026 1:18 pm KST

A NASA satellite imagery content shows only the name Sea of Japan for the body of water between Korea and Japan, Friday. Courtesy of VANK

At least 10 major overseas institutions, including the U.S. Department of State and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), use exclusively the name "Sea of Japan" for the body of water between Korea and Japan, historically called the East Sea, a nongovernmental organization in Seoul said Friday.

The Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK), which promotes Korea and its history internationally online, pointed out the widespread use of the incorrect name for the East Sea after reviewing 10 foreign government agencies and international databases, which also included the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Britannica and National Geographic.

VANK argues that, with more than 1.2 billion people worldwide using generative artificial intelligence (AI), incorrect place names could spread indiscriminately if names used incorrectly by highly reputable institutions are incorporated into AI training data.

The U.S. state department's travel advisory page for Korea only used the name Sea of Japan without mentioning the East Sea, while NASA's satellite imagery content also used only the incorrect name in text and maps describing the Korean Peninsula.

VANK raised concerns about the potential impact of such content, saying it is highly likely to appear at the top of search engine results because it comes from official government domains.

Errors and inconsistencies were also found in educational content and international organization databases.

In the case of Britannica Kids Student Edition, entries related to Korea list East Sea alongside Sea of Japan, while entries concerning Japan only use the name promoted by Tokyo.

National Geographic Kids displays inconsistent labeling even on the same page, with the main text listing only Sea of Japan while an accompanying map includes East Sea alongside it, according to VANK.

AGROVOC, a multilingual agricultural thesaurus coordinated by the FAO, provides translations in more than 15 languages but omits East Sea in its English-language entries.

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