Sea of Japan or East Sea: What Is In The Name After All?
What do you call the water body between Japan, Russia and the Korean Peninsula – Sea of Japan, Sea of Korea, Sea of Russia, none of these or a combination of these? Naming places or seas is fraught with political peril, and the water body surrounded by these countries is no different. By the end of 2011, the International Hydrographic Organization’s (IHO) is expected to draw up a final report on this sensitive issue.
At the outset, it is reasonable to ask - does the name of a sea make any difference? 
A name to recognise a sea, like any geographical place name, serves as an identifiable reference point. It is of vital importance to the littoral countries which have strategic and economic interests, as well as shared responsibilities in the management of navigation (of warships and merchant ships), fisheries, natural resources, protection of the environment, hydrography, oceanography, et al. So, it is important that, as a locale, the sea has a name which can be used by everyone concerned. And, it is natural that the inhabitants of the area be able to relate to that name as they would be using it frequently and commonly.
The “Sea of Japan,” or the East Sea, is defined by IHO as comprising of the waters between the southern coasts of the Korean Peninsula and extends to the Northern extremity of the Tartary Strait. The sea has a surface area of about 978,000 km² (284,775 sq NM) with the peripheral coast shared by Russia - 47 percent, Japan - 36 percent and the two Koreas - 17 percent.
Sea of Japan/ East Sea: An Irritant between Tokyo and Seoul
The problem posed is that this sea bears the name “Sea of Japan,” (Nihon-kai in Japanese), which is also used widely by the international community but the Koreans calls it “East Sea” (Donghae in Korean).
Koreans cannot easily accept the current usage because of the history of Japanese colonisation from 1910-1945. Soon after Korean independence in 1945, they systematically wiped out all the symbols associated with Japanese colonial rule. Over the decades, they have brought down Japanese symbols and erased memories of their influence from their territory and now they are targeting the adjacent water body. The Koreans hold the view that the name of this sea relates to their dignity, honour and pride. Furthermore, Koreans see the name, Sea of Japan, as a historical injustice because the toponym (geographical name of the place) was confirmed by the IHO in 1929 when Korea was still a colony of Japan. South Korea became a member of the IHO in 1957, and sent its delegation to this body for the first time in 1962.
The Koreans’ version holds that in the ancient times they were a part of the “middle kingdom” (China). During that time, the seas surrounding China, Korea and Japan did not have distinctive names, and one just used the terms “Sea or “Great Sea”. They identified the seas after their directions as per Chinese nomenclature of the East Sea (东海, Donghai), South Sea (南海, Nanhai), West Sea (西海, Xihai)and North Sea (北海, Beihai).
Even when diplomatic ties between Japan and ROK were normalised in 1965, Koreans did not withdraw from the effort to regain the legitimacy of the name “East Sea.” In those bilateral discussions too this problem persisted. For instance, during the negotiations between Korea and Japan regarding the Fisheries Agreement in 1965, the two countries were unable to reach an agreement on the name of the sea area and finally agreed to maintain their respective names in each of their texts of the Agreement - that is, “East Sea” in the Korean version and “Sea of Japan” in the Japanese version.
Japan, on the other hand, has challenged the Korean assertions by stating that the use of the name, “Sea of Japan” on maps did not begin in Japan but was already a common practice in China and Europe since the 16th century and it was adopted by Japan by the 18th century. And, Meiji era (1868 - 1912) the use of name, “Sea of Japan” became the accepted usage among the cartographers.
Efforts made by International Bodies
Toponyms of a country can be revised by the national commission of standardisation of geographical names. Traditionally, the name of seas, gulfs and mountains broaching several countries are fixed by frequency of use, by custom and tradition. Nowadays, an international geographical name is defined, adopted or recommended by the international organisations such as the IHO for the limits and the name of seas and oceans, and by the UN Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names (UNCSGN) for general toponyms.
At the UNCSGN, Seoul has repeatedly raised this issue in 1992, 1998, 2002, and in 2007 (along with Pyongyang). Tokyo opposed this move vehemently by stating that the issue should be settled outside the conference. UNCSGN has repeatedly urged these states to seek a mutually agreed settlement.
The IHO constituted a Working Group comprising IHO member countries (of which India is also a member) in June 2009 to address this issue. The Working Group was expected to draw up a final report by end 2011 and come up with a solution to this sensitive issue during the general body meeting in 2012.
Multimedia Usage
A number of maps, encyclopaedias, and other publications have opted to use both names.For example, in 2008, Google adopted Primary Local Usage Policy for the name of the sea between Korea and Japan. Google justifies its policy to conform to the U.N. resolution, as follows:
“As the publishers of a geographic reference tool, we believe that Google should not choose sides in international geographical disputes. For this reason, we’ve chosen to implement a uniform policy of Primary Local Usage. This policy is based on the principle of usage of ‘primary, common, local’ usage of geographical names. (…) This policy consists in writing on those maps the various names used by different countries, ethnic groups, or in different languages, to refer to the name, common places. The adopted names are transcribed or translated into equivalent terms in different languages, varying with each linguistic version of Google Earth.”
As a result, East Sea / Sea of Japan in original English version is translated into “Mer de l’Est / Mer du Japon” in French. Similarly,the Style Manual of the National Geographic Society states that disputed place names in international waters or jointly controlled by two or more countries should use the conventional name first with other names following in parentheses.
Of late, Seoul has consented to the use of both the names, viz. Sea of Japan and East Sea, but Tokyo is firm about using its own. It is observed that neither state wants to give up its demands. History has been a sticking issue between the two countries causing impediments in realising a full fledged relationship thereby reaffirming the view of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, “If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.”
