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A video released on Feb. 20 by the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The South Korean government unveiled a promotional video on Feb. 20 aimed at promoting the use of the name “East Sea” alongside “Sea of Japan” by the international community, which typically uses only the latter name.

The video includes information on the historical legitimacy of the “East Sea” name. It marks the first time the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken the initiative in spending government money to make a promotion video for the name.

The move is expected to draw objections from Tokyo, which has insisted on exclusive use of the name “Sea of Japan,” and cause further souring in relations that have already been suffering over the setting up of a comfort woman statue in Busan.

At 10 pm on Feb. 20, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a 5-minute, 20-second video to its website calling East Sea the “oldest name for this sea.”

The video, which is scheduled to be produced in 12 different languages, was first unveiled in its Korean and English versions. The ministry said it plans to finish production of Japanese and Chinese versions within the month and Spanish, French, and Arabic versions within March and April and post them on its YouTube account and websites of overseas government offices.

“After [South Korea joined] the UN, the government has worked since 1992 to spread use of the ‘East Sea’ label alongside [‘Sea of Japan’],” a ministry official said.

“[The video] was developed in cooperation with private experts and related organizations, including the Northeast Asia History Foundation and the Society for East Sea,” the official explained.

The South Korean and Japanese governments have been in a tense diplomatic battle over the “East Sea” label ahead of the first International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) convention in five years, which is to be held in Monaco on Apr. 24-28.

The IHO-published international standard nautical chart collection “Limits of Oceans and Sea (S-23),” which serves as a standard for nautical chart development, uses “Sea of Japan” as its official name for the East Sea. The South Korean government has called for the name “East Sea” to be used alongside it, while the Japanese government has called for exclusive use of the name “Sea of Japan.”

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]