The naming of The Sea of Japan is currently under dispute. Although it is the only name that has ever been recognized by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), in recent years there has been a push from South Korea to rename The Sea of Japan to a number of other possibilities. Naturally South Korea claims these names are historically and factually based, but with names ranging from Sea of Corea, to East Sea and Sea of Friendship, we believe that their true motivation is nothing but nationalism and they are merely looking to do away with any reference to the name Japan on their sea.
Why Are We Taking Action?While many people in Korea have been very vocal about their position in regards to The Sea of Japan through protesting in the streets and letter-writing campaigns, as a matter of culture the Japanese have been silent. Certainly Japan has been presenting its case at the IHO, but it has not been working to make the international community aware of the issue. We believe that it is important the international community is aware of the issue by means other than the cyber-terrorism campaign that is being implemented by nationalists in South Korea.
Korean nationalists have been making major gains in recent years in their campaign against The Sea of Japan. Particularly powerful has been Korea's use of its own schoolchildren to flood the mailboxes of mapmakers around the world with letters and e-mails claiming that using The Sea of Japan instead of East Sea is akin to supporting Japan's past imperialism. The fact that the arguments in the letters are not grounded in historical reality has not prevented several major mapmaking companies from beginning to print the name East Sea on their maps, at times just to make the harassment stop. The Korean government has been spending millions of dollars in its campaign against The Sea of Japan -- including bribes -- and almost succeeded in having the IHO remove its name from official maps in 2007.
Analyzing The Korean Argument
"A Nation Cannot Own A Body Of Water"
The first reason Korea says she disputes The Sea Of Japan is she believes that having the name Japan in the name of the body of water somehow implies ownership to the sea and all that resides in it. Beyond being ridiculous, that is highly hypocritical of Korea. There are bodies of water which share names with countries all around the world, Korea is no exception. If The Sea of Japan were to be disqualified through this reasoning, so would The Korean Bay, The Korea Straight, as well as The East China Sea and The Philippine Sea just to name a few in the region. Furthermore, names such as Sea of Korea and Sea of Corea have been proposed by Korea that also contain the name 'Korea' in them; if a body of water cannot have the name of a nation in it, then those names are also off-limits as well. The real reason Korea protests The Sea of Japan has nothing to do with the ownership it does not imply.
"Korea Was Not Represented At The IHO"
Another major Korean claim is that Imperial Japan was responsible for the IHO's official adoption of The Sea of Japan in 1929. This argument, which frames the argument over the sea's name as one in which Korea is trying to make Japan own up to its past wrong-doings, is intellectually dishonest. The Sea of Japan had been the dominant name on international maps well before Japan became an imperialist power, and there is no evidence that suggests that Japanese influence was responsible for the sea's naming.
"Korean Maps have Shown The East Sea Since 59 BCE "
Korea has had a long history of referring to The Sea of Japan as The East Sea. However, when creating an international standard, what matters is the international community as a whole, not the interests of one. Therefore it is important to consider what not just what Korea and Japan refer to The Sea of Japan as, but what the international community in general refers to The Sea of Japan as. There is no reason for the international community to refer to The Sea of Japan as The East Sea for it is east of Korea alone. However the international community can not tell Korea what to do and she may refer to any body of water she borders in any way she may please, the problem is when one nation tries to instruct the rest of the world what to do.
The Sea of Japan
Long History of Usage
The Sea of Japan first appeared as a name for the body of water on European maps hundreds of years ago. Studies of historical map collections have shown that from 1600 until 1800 various names were used for the sea, including many maps that did not use The Sea of Japan. However, studies of historical map collections have indicated that a de facto standardization of the sea's name occurred sometime in the beginning of the 19th century, with the other names falling out of use and The Sea of Japan becoming the international name used on the overwhelming majority of maps during that period. This international use of The Sea of Japan as a de facto standard name for the sea occurred during a period of history when Japan remained isolated from the most of the world, casting major doubt on the Korean claim that Japanese imperialist influence was the reason behind the IHO's official adoption of The Sea of Japan in the 20th century.
Internationally Recognized
Languages are 100% arbitrary. There is no correct name for anything, all that matters is whether or not the meaning is properly communicated. The IHO has once decided that the body of water that separates the Korean peninsula and the Japanese islands is The Sea of Japan, and it has become the official international standard in accordance with it being used as the standard until that 1929. As a result, the people of the world know The Sea of Japan, and do not know The East Sea. Unlike a criminal court case, no past wrong can be corrected, because there is no right and wrong to begin with.
About Us
Who We Are
We are a group of private individuals ranging from Students to Professionals from various parts of the world concerned about the rising nationalism in South Korea and how it is being abused by the South Korean government to baselessly attack anything and everything Japanese in order to distract from it's own faults. We are speaking up for what we believe in because we believe it is the right thing to do.
Who We Aren't
We are not Japanese nor are we in any way associated with the Japanese government, or any other group, public or private, that stands to gain or lose in any way by the publishing of this web site. We do not have anything against or hate Korea or Koreans. However find it rather sad that we have to explicitly say so because so many young Koreans today place their entire sense of self-pride on Korea's image to the point that for fear of our lives and the lives of our family we have to place such a disclaimer on this webpage.
What You Can Do To Help
Spread The Word
Tell anyone and everyone you know about what is going on at the IHO. Very few people know about it, and those that do most likely know about it only after being fed a one sided story from Korea. Blog about our site, and about our cause. If you are a representative of the media, please contact us via email at info@saveseaofjapan.com to learn more about us as individuals, or our cause.
Link To Us
Be sure to link to us when you write about the issue on your blog. Our url is http://www.SaveSeaOfJapan.com. We've also created a handy button you can use to link to us in your sidebar, or on a standard web page. If you put our button on your site, please contact us via email at info@saveseaofjapan.com and we will list you as a supporter and link back to you. Here is the code and image to link to us.
Provide Translations
Although we have members from all corners of the globe, we currently only have our site available in English. We are working on translations but we could always use any help. If you speak English and another language, any language, because we want everyone to hear our message, please contact us via email at info@saveseaofjapan.com.
(c) 2007 SaveSeaOfJapan.com
日本海を守るかい