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U.S. defense ministry uses Japanese name for waters between Korea and Japan

U.S. defense ministry uses Japanese name for waters between Korea and Japan

Posted May. 20, 2016 07:54,   

Updated May. 20, 2016 07:56

한국어

The U.S. Department of Defense’s latest Annual Report to Congress referred to the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan only as the “Sea of Japan,” without using the “East Sea,” the South Korean name of the sea, alongside it.

The report is the U.S. Defense Department’s official annual document highlighting China’s military buildup and regional territorial disputes.

The department disclosed the full text of the 140-page document on China’s military might on its website after submitting it to Congress in late April. The Dong-A Ilbo has obtained the paper and found that the document used only the “Sea of Japan” on a Page 3 map showing the location of China’s military presence and routes of oil and natural gas imports. In the 2012 and 2015 reports, the department used the “Sea of Japan” reference on two maps and one, respectively, while the 2013 and 2014 reports specified neither the “East Sea” nor the “Sea of Japan.”

A South Korean military source expressed concern, saying that as the document is used as key material for assessing China’s military might and gauging the U.S. security strategy against China, the paper could end up promoting the “Sea of Japan” marking as a globally-recognized name of the sea. However, the South Korean military seemed not to have found the naming properly. Some say that Seoul should deal with the issue at a trilateral defense ministers’ meeting among South Korea, the United States and Japan to be held on the sidelines of the Asian Security Conference in Singapore in early June.