SEOUL -- South Korea appears to view the omission of all sea area names on the International Hydrographic Organization's planned digital marine charts as an opportunity to promote the use of the East Sea designation for the Sea of Japan on maps and in textbooks around the world.
It is believed that South Korea is hoping the digital charts will become mainstream in the international community and that the Sea of Japan will no longer be the internationally recognized sole designation for the body of water.
South Korea has been pushing the IHO since 1997 to have the East Sea name included alongside the Sea of Japan designation.
The IHO's Limits of Oceans and Seas guidelines, in which the Sea of Japan is the sole designation for the body of water, is the most dominant source for the international community to determine the names of sea areas for publications.
South Korea has lobbied U.S. tech giant Google and others include the East Sea naming on maps. The U.S. version of Google maps shows the Sea of Japan at low zoom levels, but when the zoom level is increased, it also shows the East Sea.
A source close to the South Korean government said the IHO's decision will prompt South Korea to "intensify its lobbying and publicity efforts in various countries to promote the use of the East Sea."
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