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The sea was originally ¡®East Sea¡¯
or ¡®The Sea of Japan¡¯. To us, it was East Sea because it was in the
east, and the east side of it was ¡®the Pacific¡¯.
Historically, from the 17th century to the mid 19th century, many countries
used to mark the sea as ¡®East Sea¡¯ or ¡®Sea of Korea¡¯.
Therefore, ¡®East sea¡¯ or ¡®Sea of Korea¡¯ was a commonly used indication
not only domestically but internationally as well from the beginning.
According to Kim Gi-bin¡¯s research, ¡®A Complete Map of Asia¡¯ drawn by
Katsurakawa of Japan in 1794, ¡®A World Map¡¯ by Takahashi in 1810, and
¡®A New World Map¡¯ by Kisaku in 1847 indicate the sea as ¡®The Sea of
Korea(Sea of Chosun)¡¯.
East Sea/The Sea of Korea was commonly used from the 16th century to
the mid 19th century. One of the main reasons for naming of the Sea
of Japan took the superiority is that Korea remained herself closed
from outside until the late 19th century, different from Japan.
There are some rules regarding the names of internationally called seas
with exceptions existing. One of them is to call the name of the sea
by naming the country located in the west of the particular sea. The
Yellow Sea is indicated as it is because it is the sea the Yellow River
flowing into. The Sea in the east of Okhotsk City in Russia is called
the Sea of Okhotsk, the sea in the west of Okinawa and east of China
is called the East China Sea, the sea in the west of the Philippines
and south of China is called the South China Sea, the sea in the east
of Timor is called the Sea of Timor, the sea in the east of Tasmania
located in the Southern Australia and between Australia and New Zealand
is called the Tasmanian Sea, the sea in the east of the Arabian peninsula
is the Arabian Sea, the sea in the east of Mexico is called the Mexico
Bay, the sea in the east of the Labrador peninsula of Canada is the
Sea of Labrador, the sea in the east of Mozambique of Africa is called
the Sea of Mozambique, and the sea in the east of Andaman is called
the Sea of Andaman.
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