US-East Sea naming U.S. ignores Koreans' protest in naming sea between Korea, Japan

By Lee Chi-dong WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (Yonhap) -- Despite a growing furor among Koreans, the U.S. government formally confirmed a policy Monday of calling the waters between Korea and Japan the Sea of Japan. Koreans are campaigning for the international community to recognize the waters as the East Sea or at least use both names. Korean people are encouraged by an increasing number of international organizations that use the two names together. The State Department, however, reaffirmed that it authorizes only the name supported by Japan. "The U.S. uses names decided by th U.S. Board on Geographic Names and the so-called BGN standard name for that body of water is the Sea of Japan," department spokesman Mark Toner said at a press briefing. "I believe that we also use the terminology 'Sea of Japan,' which is the internationally recognized terminology," he added. His comments were in response to an earlier report by Yonhap News Agency that the U.S. has advised the International Hydrographic Organization to name the waters the Sea of Japan instead of the East Sea. The South Korean government filed a formal protest with the U.S. against the move, with South Korea's major Internet portals flooded with messages denouncing Washington. South Korea points out that the name "Sea of Japan" was unfairly established during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. A U.S. reporter attending the press briefing asked if the U.S. policy is to antagonize one of its key regional allies. Toner did not comment.