First! The term “East Sea” is universal and historical.
When determining a sea’s name, the most important rule is to reflect on what the universally used name by the citizens of the neighboring countries. “East Sea” came onto the stage in history over 2,000 years ago and has been used on the peninsula ever since.
The first record of “East Sea” was in The History of the Three Kingdoms and the Saga of King Dong- myeong and in the process of recording matters in around 59 B.C., “East Sea” appears. It is also known that it was used jointly with the country name of “Japan’s” use of the “Sea of Japan”name starting around 700 years afterwards. Moreover, the “East Sea”, starting with the Korean peninsula, is bordering Japan, Russia, etc. so it is not just Japan’s sea, but a sea that many countries share. Therefore, Japan’s opinion of one-sidedly referring it to independently as the “Sea of Japan” is not right.
Second! The term “East Sea”has justification at the international level.
The IHO and the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names or UNCSGN, the international organizations which determine the standard names of the world’s seas, suggest that in the hard case on the agreement of a name for a landmark shared by 2 countries, it is ordinary principle to use each working name.
Following this, the current name for the sea between Korea and Japan should not have just one name decided on but the joint use of the Korean name “East Sea” and the Japanese “Sea of Japan” name together in accordance with international law.
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