Other Countries
Russia calls this sea "Япо́нское мо́ре" (Yapónskoye móre, Japanese Sea). Japan believes that Russia played a major role in establishing this name internationally, as mentioned above. Chinese government websites exclusively use the name 日本海 (rìběnhǎi, Japan Sea). In 2003, the French Defense Ministry issued nautical maps that included both terms Sea of Japan and East Sea. It reverted to Sea of Japan as a single name in the map issued in 2004. The United Kingdom and Germany officially use the Sea of Japan.
The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) continues to advocate the use of Sea of Japan without qualification in U.S. government publications. The World Factbook published by the Central Intelligence Agency follows the BGN's guidance. On 8 August 2011, a spokesman for the United States Department of State stated that the United States Board on Geographic Names considered the official name of the sea to be "Sea of Japan." According to Yonhap, the US has officially recommended to the IHO that "Sea of Japan" remain as the official name for the sea. In response to this failure of the Korean campaign, Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan suggested advocating other historical names, such as "Sea of Korea".
In the United States state of Virginia, state lawmaker David W. Marsden, acting on behalf of Korean-American voters, introduced a bill to the education panel of the Senate of Virginia that would have required public school textbooks to include both Sea of Japan and East Sea as names. The panel rejected the bill by a 8-7 vote on 26 January 2012.
On 29 June 2012, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt M. Campbell affirmed the BGN's position in his response, published on the White House website, to a We the People petition concerning the usage of "Sea of Japan", in which he stated, "It is longstanding United States policy to refer to each sea or ocean by a single name. This policy applies to all seas, including those bordered by multiple countries that may each have their own names for such bodies of water. Concerning the body of water between the Japanese archipelago and the Korean peninsula, longstanding U.S. policy is to refer to it as the "Sea of Japan." He also stated, "We are aware the Republic of Korea refers to the body of water as the "East Sea," and the United States is not asking the Republic of Korea to change its nomenclature. U.S. usage of the "Sea of Japan" in no way implies an opinion regarding any issue related to sovereignty.
Read more about this topic: Sea Of Japan Naming Dispute
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