Japanese Government Requests U.S. Indo-Pacific Command to Correct 'East Sea' Labeling

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Amid North Korea's ballistic missile launch into the East Sea, the Japanese government has demanded that the United States change the name of the East Sea to the Sea of Japan and issued a correction request. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is reported to have referred to the East Sea as "the East Sea" in relation to North Korea's missile launch.

At a regular press conference on the afternoon of the 25th, Manabu Sakai, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, was asked about the Japanese government's position on the East Sea being labeled as such in the statement released by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command regarding North Korea's ballistic missile launch. He asserted, "Japan's position is that the Sea of Japan is the only internationally established name."

Deputy Chief Sakai called the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command's use of the East Sea designation "inappropriate" and said that Japan has already conveyed its position to the U.S. government and requested a correction.

Earlier, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command reportedly stated in a release following North Korea's ballistic missile launch, "We are aware of the North Korean missile launched into the East Sea," using the term East Sea.

However, the statement is currently not available on the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command's website. According to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, North Korea launched short-range ballistic missiles twice around 7:06 a.m. and 7:25 a.m. from the Hamju area in South Hamgyong Province toward the East Sea.

The projectiles were detected flying approximately 450 km in the direction of Japan. The Japanese government stated that although these missiles were launched into the Sea of Japan, they did not fall within Japanese territory or Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

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