US Translation Agency Adopts 'East Sea' Label

By Michael Ha

Staff Reporter

A U.S. state agency in charge of translating foreign data has started using the name ``East Sea" in describing Korea's geography.

Previously, the U.S. National Virtual Translation Center used the term ``Sea of Japan" when labeling the waters between South Korea and Japan. The change was first reported Thursday by the Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK), a Korean volunteer group that has been leading public awareness campaigns defending Korea's sovereignty over Dokdo.

The U.S. agency, however, will keep using the name ``Sea of Japan" in its profile for Japan.

According to VANK, this is a significant step because it represents the first time that any U.S. government agency has officially adopted the label ``East Sea" when referring to waters between the two neighboring Asian countries.

The U.S. National Virtual Translation Center, established 2003, provides translations of foreign intelligence for all elements of the intelligence community, according to the agency's Web site.

VANK Chairman Park Gi-tae said ``this new labeling carries a lot of meaning. The National Virtual Translation Center also consults 16 U.S. departments and agencies including the State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and also the U.S. Navy." Currently, the Central Intelligence Agency continues to use the ``Sea of Japan" label for its official maps.

Park said ``this is the first time that that a U.S. government entity has used the `East Sea' label by itself on an official map."

This change could lead to a wider use of the ``East Sea" label, not just within the U.S. government but also in other areas as well, including various cultural, economic and social sectors, according to the VANK chairman.

``When our group requests popular Web sites overseas to stop using the `Sea of Japan' label when referring to waters between South Korea and Japan, they often ask us for examples used by U.S. government agencies. This new change will boost the publicity campaign to start using the term `East Sea' around the world," he said.

In 2005, VANK had successfully convinced online search site Google to adopt the name ``East Sea'' instead of ``Sea of Japan'' for its online map service Google Earth.

[출처 : 코리아타임스]