Japanese Travel Industry Visiting Seoul Faces Backlash for Promoting Maps with 'Takeshima' and 'Sea of Japan'

Travel Expo Held in Seoul Earlier This Month
Map Labeling 'Dokdo' as 'Japanese Territory' Provided at Japanese Booth

It has been revealed belatedly that a travel map created by the Japanese government marked Dokdo as Japanese territory, sparking controversy.

On the 21st, Professor Seokyung Deok of Sungshin Women's University pointed out on his Facebook, "It was recently discovered that at the 'Travel Show 2024' travel expo held earlier this month at COEX in Seoul, a map provided at the Japanese booth marked Dokdo as Japanese territory."

[Image source=Seokyeongdeok, Professor at Sungshin Women's University, Facebook]

The map was produced by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), translating Dokdo as 'Takeshima Island' and marking it as Japanese territory. It also introduced the sea between Korea and Japan as the 'Sea of Japan' instead of the East Sea.

Professor Seo said, "We learned about this through reports from netizens, and one netizen even provided the map they received at the event," adding, "There is no problem with the Japanese side promoting tourism at the travel expo, but providing such a map is a clear territorial provocation."

He continued, "Our government must strongly protest to ensure that this map produced by the Japan National Tourism Organization does not spread worldwide," emphasizing, "The event organizers must also pay closer attention in the future to prevent such incidents from happening again domestically. This is because Dokdo is Korean territory historically, geographically, and under international law."

Netizens who came across the news expressed various reactions such as "Dokdo is our land," "The government must take active measures," "Providing such a map at an expo held in Korea?are they mocking Korea?" and "They are shameless beyond words."

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