Some Korean War Memorials in the U.S. Changed to Use East Sea and Sea of Japan on Plaques

10 out of 14 War Memorials Use "Sea of Japan" Only

Among the 14 Korean War memorials in the United States that labeled the East Sea as the Sea of Japan, four have changed from using only the Sea of Japan to using both the East Sea and the Sea of Japan.

According to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs on the 16th, through overseas diplomatic missions, they have consistently requested local governments and Korean War veterans associations to use both the East Sea and the Sea of Japan, and it is reported that the U.S. side accepted our request.

Currently, there are a total of 14 Korean War memorials in the United States. These 14 Korean War memorials labeled the sea east of the Korean Peninsula not as the "East Sea" but as the "Sea of Japan."

Among them, the Maryland Korean War Memorial (installed in 1990), Ohio Korean War Memorial Park (1995), Lake County Korean War Memorial (2003), and Cayuga County Korean War Memorial (2006) have changed from using only the Sea of Japan to using both the East Sea and the Sea of Japan within the past year. However, 10 Korean War memorials located in New York State (1990), Honolulu (1994), Rensselaer County (1996), South Carolina (2000), Kansas (2001), Northeast Kansas (2003), Pineville (2005), Iowa (1989), Monroe County (1990), and University of Akron (2001) still label the East Sea solely as the Sea of Japan.

In 2010, the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs confirmed that there were cases of using only the Sea of Japan on overseas Korean War memorials while preparing a pictorial book containing photos of overseas war memorials. Since then, efforts were made to change the sole use of the Sea of Japan on Korean War memorials to the joint use of the East Sea and the Sea of Japan, but no significant results were achieved for a long time. However, within the past year, four memorials have succeeded in adopting both the East Sea and the Sea of Japan.

The government has advocated internationally for the dual notation of the East Sea and the Sea of Japan for the sea east of the Korean Peninsula, but the Japanese government has maintained its position of using only the Sea of Japan. It is explained that the U.S. side, conscious of Japan's opposition, did not accept our government's request for dual notation until last year, but changed its stance as Korea-Japan relations greatly improved.

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs plans to promote the dual notation of the East Sea and the Sea of Japan for the Korean War memorials in the United States that still use only the Sea of Japan.

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