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.
Most of all, the U.S. state of Virginia has revised the guidelines for history and social science education in line with a newly enacted law that requires textbooks to use the Korean name ¡°East Sea¡± alongside the Japanese name ¡°Sea of Japan¡± for the body of water between the two countries on 2017.
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.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely yours