A few days ago I have visited your website – https://www.gdrc.org/oceans/un-seahorse/ocean.html. And I was much surprised and thought deeply. As I found that your website labeled Korea's 'East Sea' as 'Japan Sea' alone, I would like to politely encourage you to change this point from a fairer historical point of view.

Japan has continuously tried to claim the ‘East Sea’ as 'Sea of Japan' since early 20th century – the time that Japan try to expand its territory by establishing colonies, so these errors may happen on many websites including yours. However the use of ‘East Sea’ is more than ‘Sea of Japan or Japan Sea’ in many western old maps but I think both names should be used in maps and websites.   

The name "East Sea" has been used in Korea for more than 2000 years as illustrated in various reference such as "History of the Three Kingdoms(三國史記)", the monument of King Gwanggaeto, and "Map of Eight Provinces of Korea(八道總圖)". The name "Sea of Japan", however, was first used by Mateo Ricci in 1602 and various historical records show that the Japanese themselves did not refer to the sea area as the "Sea of Japan" for a long time. Japan insists that the name "Sea of Japan" came into widespread use in the 19th century by stating that the old western maps showed an increased use of the name "Sea of Japan" throughout the 19th century. However, numerous Japanese maps at that time such as "Simplified Map of Japan's Periphery(日本邊界略圖, 1809)" and "New World Map(新製輿地全圖, 1844)" referred to the sea area as the "Sea of Joseon(Korea)," and this demonstrates that the name "Sea of Japan" had not been established even in Japan then.

'East Sea' is in the east of Korean peninsula and west of Japan. South Korea calls it as ’East Sea’ while Japan as ‘Sea of Japan or Japan Sea’. This is the result of Korea's loss of sovereignty and Japan's international status in the early 20th century when the world's geographical names were standardized. Although Korea has demanded correction ever since its independence in 1945, the case remains an unsolved problem in the international community.

International organizations recommend that names be unified if they use different names in two or more countries' shared areas, and that each name be used if no adjustment is made. It is an international standard to use the two names together until this agreement is reached, as the claims of Korea and Japan are very different now.

So I think we should use both 'East Sea' and 'Sea of Japan or Japan Sea' for this sea and I would like to politely recommend you this fact. There is always debate all over the world over territory, sovereignty and its name. In order to objectively judge, I think we should use multiple names together and use one name when the situation is adjusted.

Therefore, I would like to advise you to think deeply about the above recommendations in order to view and judge history fairly and to enhance the objectivity of your web site.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Yudam Kim.