SEOUL, April 30 (UPI) -- If so-what's-in-a-name is the issue, South Korea would have the waters between it and Japan designated as the East Sea rather than the Sea of Japan.
That will be Seoul's mission when its officials and their Japanese counterparts contend with one another next week when the International Hydrographic Organization meets in Monaco to update sea maps.
The Yonhap news agency reported Monday South Korea plans to ask the IHO to consider adopting East Sea along with the Sea of Japan.
The sea is bordered by the Russian mainland and Sakhalin Island, North and South Koreas and Japan's Hokkaido, Honshu, and Kyushu islands. Russia and China continue to refer to it as the Sea of Japan but not the two Koreas.
South Korean officials say the name was registered with the IHO in the 1920s when it was a Japanese colony. Japan maintains "Sea of Japan" has been in use as an international standard since the 19th century, long before Japan gained dominance in the area.
A South Korean Foreign Ministry official told Yonhap both East Sea and Sea of Japan should be adopted without a vote. He said a vote would not favor South Korea as the prevailing sentiment is to retain the current name.
