CONTESTING PLACE NAMES: THE EAST SEA/SEA OF JAPAN NAMING ISSUE

ABSTRACT

Building on the work of critical toponymy, this paper provides an example of the active contestation of a place name. Since the early 1990s, successive Korean governments have argued that the singular use of “Sea of Japan” is a colonial legacy. We provide a brief historical context for this dispute. We identify the array of names currently used in newspapers, journals, educational texts, and internet sites and show that a dual naming is now a more common usage, especially in international English-language newspapers, atlases, educational textbooks and internet materials. A colonial naming practice has been challenged.

Keywords:

• critical toponymy
• dual naming
• East Sea/Sea of Japan
• Sea of Japan/East Sea