On September 14th, I was searching for articles about Korea and the neighboring seas and happened upon website and the page https://www.softschools.com/facts/seas/sea_of_japan_facts/3333/.

I was astonished to find that you have chosen to name designate the East Seas as only ‘Sea of Japan.’ It is extremely inappropriate and frankly appalling, that a site dedicated to educating children would be so ill informed to blatantly use such designation with complete lack of regard for the dispute between the two countries. It is hard to comprehend the misinformation that could be construed as fact because of your website; especially as your site caters to a wide range of children of all ages.

Articulating the correct use of the names for the body of water between Korea and Japan is not simply a question of naming a geographic area but is part of a national effort by the Korean Republic to erase the legacy of Japanese Imperialism and to redress the unfairness that has been resulted from that period. The way African-Americans were enslaved, so was the Korean people. Therefore, I urge you to use 'East Sea' to describe the body of water in question or to use both Korean and Japanese designation simultaneously (e.g. 'East Sea/Sea of Japan') in your contents and maps. 

Furthermore, for more than 2,000 years, not just Koreans, but people throughout the world, viewed the body of water on the eastern boundary of Asia between Korea and Japan as the East Se  a. In order to resolve the controversy, in 2019, the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) reportedly urged Japan to negotiate with the Republic of Korea. The IHO was founded in 1921 to standardize the names of seas and oceans and support safe navigation of ships. The name the East Sea was on world maps, including old Japanese maps, until the publication of S-23 “the Limits of Oceans and Seas” by IHO in 1929.  During the time when the IHO was creating a list of the names of oceans and seas, Japan had occupied and imperialized Korea starting in 1910 and ending in 1945. Accordingly, Korea was unable to participate in the decision-making process.  As a result, only the name Sea of Japan was used in the publication, which fueled the spread of the name on world maps and in textbooks. This practice remained in the second (1937) and third edition (1953) of the publication of S-23 “the Limits of Oceans and Seas” because Korea was either under Japanese rule from 1910 to 1945 or engaged in a war from 1950-1953, the time of the publications. According to IHO and UNCSGN, in case of topographical feature shared with two or more countries, yet naming differently in their own languages, all the names in each language should be marked. Once Korea and Japan agree on a common designation that is in accord with the general rule of international cartography we will then follow the agreed-on designation. 

As a high school student, this is frankly disturbing.  I can’t begin to imagine all the students who have visited your site and took this information as fact. The amount of misinformation that this site has disseminated is deplorable and I feel that you should be held responsible.  At least write a retraction letter, please! While the world is ravaged by not only by Covid-19, but racial injustice and discrimination, I feel that your company should do the right thing. I ask that you contact me with changes and look forward to visiting your site with the implemented change. You can email me at ashleylsylee@gmail.com with your response, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. And I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,  

Ashley Lee