By Lee Tae-hoon
The standardization of a geographical name referring to the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago remains one of the most contentious and divisive issues between the two neighboring countries.
Japan insists that the international community should recognize 978,000 square kilometer area as the Sea of Japan, claiming that it has been the dominant appellation commonly adopted by cartographers.
However, Peter E. Raper, former chairman of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN), claims Tokyo has no right or legal authorization over the naming of the sea area lying between Korea, Japan and extending north toward Russia.
“Any country has the right to choose names for territorial waters for 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers),” the South African expert in toponyms said in an interview at the Northeast Asian History Foundation (NAHF) in Seoul.
“Beyond that there is nothing that they can do to tell people what to do or what not to do.”
He noted that the charters of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) stipulate that a state’s territorial sea extends up to 12 nautical miles from its baseline.
Both the IHO and UNGEGN recommend that all parties concerned using different names to the shared geographical feature should reach an agreement on its name. Should they fail to do so, names used in each country should be marked on the map.
“Historically, different racial groups have given different names to the same place,” Raper said.
“If you choose one racial group or ethnic group over the other, then you are causing a problem. “
He said if Korea and Japan cannot agree on a single name for the body of waters between the two countries, the name preferred by each country should be used for international purposes.
“It would help avoid conflict and keep peace between the two nations.”
He pointed out that Japanese people should understand that Koreans will never call the disputed area the Sea of Japan or Sea of Nihonkai.
“Donghae, or the East Sea, is the name used by Koreans for 2,000 years, far longer compared to the Sea of Japan, or Sea of Nihonkai,” he said.
Various records, including "The History of the Three Kingdoms,” the monument of King Gwanggaeto, and "The Map of the Eight Provinces of Korea" indicate that the East Sea has been used in Korea for the past two millennia.
Japan is believed to have begun to refer it as the Sea of Nihonkai from the late 18th century.
Raper said the name the Sea of Japan is a reminder of Japan’s 35-year colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula which ended in 1945 upon its defeat in World War II.
The Sea of Japan was widely used during the 1910-1945 Japanese colonial rule of Korea and the 1950-53 Korean War during which Korea was unable to voice its opposition to Japan’s acts of aggression and unfair treatment.
“The issue is emotionally and culturally interwoven to Koreans,” he said.
“If you attempt to change names, you cause conflict and antagonism.”
Tokyo has yet to accept Korea’s proposal to use both the East Sea and Sea of Japan in official documents, maps, and atlases until the issue is resolved.
He also criticizes claims that Korea should insist on naming the area as the East Sea without mentioning the Sea of Japan.
“The two countries have the same sovereignty, authority and status over the area. Therefore, the names on the map should reflect that,” he said.
“As far as I can ascertain, the Japanese people and government don’t want to do that, while the Korean government is implementing a resolution,” he said.
According to NAHF, the parallel use of the East Sea and Sea of Japan or just East Sea in world maps accounted for slightly less than 30 percent in 2009.
Still many of these maps write the Sea of Japan bigger, while marking the East Sea smaller and in brackets.
Korea first raised the issue at a UNGEGN conference held in New York in 1992, shortly after joining the world body a year earlier. It plans to urge Japan to use both the East Sea and Sea of Japan when the UNGEGN holds its next meeting in New York in August 2012. The conference is held every five years.