"Japan Sea Officially Designated" Protest Email to U.S. Department of Defense from Seok-duk Seo... "It Is East Sea"

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Urges US to Join East Sea Label Used Since 2000

The U.S. Department of Defense claimed that "'Sea of Japan' is the official designation," while Professor Seokyung Deok of Sungshin Women's University officially protested on the 22nd.

Earlier, in February, the U.S. conducted joint military exercises with South Korea and Japan in the East Sea, labeling the exercise area as the 'Sea of Japan' instead of the 'East Sea.' At that time, the U.S. Department of Defense responded to the question of "how the East Sea will be referred to in the future" by stating that "'Sea of Japan' is the official designation" and that "using 'Sea of Japan' is the policy not only of the Department of Defense but also of other U.S. government agencies."

Full-page advertisement of 'Donghae' published in The New York Times. [Photo by Professor Seokyungdeok's team]

In response, Professor Seokyung Deok sent a protest email to the U.S. Department of Defense asserting that "the correct name for the sea between Korea and Japan is the 'East Sea,'" and rebutted by saying, "The AP World History textbooks, part of the U.S. college entrance examination process, have started to list both 'East Sea' and 'Sea of Japan,' and in 2019, the New York State Department of Education recommended that schools mention both 'East Sea' and 'Sea of Japan' together."

He continued, "The AP World History textbooks, part of the U.S. college entrance examination process, have started to list both 'East Sea' and 'Sea of Japan,' and in 2019, the New York State Department of Education recommended that schools mention both 'East Sea' and 'Sea of Japan' together," highlighting changes in American society.

He also noted, "There was an incident where the Major League Baseball (MLB) website, which hosted this year's World Baseball Classic (WBC), labeled the sea as 'Sea of Japan' but removed it after protests from the Korean side."

Through the protest email, Professor Seokyung Deok attached videos related to the 'East Sea' and requested, "Please join us in using the 'East Sea' designation, which has been historically used for over 2,000 years."

Following this, regarding some media reports on the 17th that the U.S. military authorities stated they would unify the designation of the East Sea as the Sea of Japan going forward, the Department of Defense said, "We will closely consult with the U.S. side regarding the labeling of the 'exercise area.'"

Defense Ministry spokesperson Jeon Hakyu said, "The Ministry of Defense is expanding trilateral exercises among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan to respond to the increasingly sophisticated nuclear and missile threats from North Korea," adding, "In this process, we have conveyed our government's position on the 'East Sea' designation to the U.S. side on various occasions."

Meanwhile, Professor Seokyung Deok has widely promoted the 'East Sea' worldwide through various means, including placing full-page advertisements in major global media such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, as well as running video advertisements in New York's Times Square.

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