Into the History of 'Ilbonhae'... IHO Develops New Standard, Uses Numbers Instead of Place Names

Photo of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) event site.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) has finalized a plan to use numbers instead of place names in the newly created international standard chart collection. As a result, existing charts labeled as "Sea of Japan" will lose their status as standards, removing obstacles to the spread of the "East Sea" designation.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries on the 1st, the results of the 2nd IHO Assembly held that morning officially confirmed the "Unofficial Consultation Results on the Future of Limits of Oceans and Seas (S-23)" as originally proposed. This report includes the development of a new digital chart collection standard (S-130) that labels sea areas with unique numbers instead of place names, and states that the existing standard S-23 will remain as a "publication" showing the historical transition from analog to digital.

In the new chart collection standard S-130, all seas and oceans worldwide, including the East Sea, will be labeled with unique identification numbers instead of regional names such as Sea of Japan or East Sea.

A government official explained, "At this assembly, the IHO clearly indicated that S-23, which solely labels the Sea of Japan, will no longer be used as a standard in practice," adding, "The decades-long conflict between Korea and Japan within the technical international organization IHO has been resolved for now."

Following the results of the 2nd IHO Assembly, our government plans to further strengthen diplomatic efforts to promote the East Sea designation through organic cooperation with the private sector in the new environment.

First, as a leading country in the field of digital hydrographic services, Korea will actively participate in the development and commercialization process of the new standard S-130 to expand the foundation for spreading the East Sea designation, and continue efforts to promote the East Sea designation to foreign governments and the private sector.

Additionally, Korea plans to develop an online monitoring system in cooperation with overseas diplomatic missions and related organizations to carry out comprehensive correction and negotiation activities for the spread of the East Sea designation online.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.