US urged to use name `East Sea` as well as `Sea of Japan`

Senior presidential adviser for foreign affairs and national security Chun Yung-woo asked the White House in Washington Wednesday to reconsider U.S. policy on the name of the body of water between Korea and Japan.

In separate meetings with his U.S. counterpart Thomas Donilon and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns, Chun explained the significance of the name and the territorial dispute over the Dokdo islets in Korea-Japan relations. The U.S. officials, however, reaffirmed that the U.S. uses the single name "Sea of Japan" to reflect Japan`s position, citing a long-standing international practice, diplomatic sources said.

Korea is urging the use of the name “East Sea” together with “Sea of Japan.”

A senior official in Seoul said Washington did not say it would change its position, adding, “For more than two decades, the U.S. and Britain have adhered to their positions of calling the waters `Sea of Japan.`”

The official said using the name East Sea together with Sea of Japan cannot be achieved just be negotiating with the U.S.

“The (Korean) government has persuaded private cartographers around the world to use both names for the sea for more than two decades,” he said, adding that 28 percent of them now use both names, up from 1-2 percent 20 years ago.

“If more than half of map makers use both names, persuading the U.S. will be easier,” the official said. “As Japan’s diplomatic influence is considerable, we cannot easily achieve our goal of getting both names used overnight.”

yhchoi65@donga.com