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The history of naming east sea
should be understood in the sense of the European expansion of view
towards the world through the discovery and exploration.
The name for East Sea has been changed from the imaginary sea to Great
Ocean and to Small Coast. The indications with country¨s name such as
Sea of Korea are often shown for East Sea in maps from the early 1600s
till the last moment of the discovery of Korea by the Western. Most
of them exclusively mentioned Sea of an Korea. According to the international
customs, geographical designation should be considered based on history
and tradition. Therefore, it is necessary to take a look at the ancient
maps and hydrographic charts. The followings are the designations for
the east sea in significant ancient maps among sources provided by the
Westerners;
！MAR CORIA in the map of Asia by Manuel Godinho in 1615
！MAR DI CORAI in the map of the East Asia by Sir Robert Dudley in 1647
！Ocean Oriental in the map of Philippe Briet in 1650
！MAR DE COREE in the map of Japanese Islands by Jean Baptiste Traemier
in 1679
！East Sea or MER ORIENTALE OU MER DE COREE in the map of Indo
-China by Guillaum de L¨lsle, French geographer in 1705
！Sea of Corea in the map of the East Asia by John Green in 1747
！MAR DI COREA in the map of Asian countries created with new methods
by prof. Antonio Chata supported by the senate of Venice, Italy in 1777
！SEA OF COREA in China part of British encyclopedia in 1778
！Sea of Corea in the map of Russia by Bowen, Russian in 1780
！MER DE COREE in the map of Asia dealing with regions and countries,
collected in Spain national library at Madrid in 1785
！COREAN SEA in Asian islands and regions created in London, England
in 1794 The designation of Sea of Japan is usually shown in the maps
based on Oriental maps brought after Matteo Ricci. It is analyzed that
Sea of Japan was replaced as the significance of Japan has been recognized
since the middle 19th century.
Therefore, before the early 19th century, Sea of Korea was the common
designation in the world map. However, after that, Sea of Japan appeared
and since the War between Russia and Japan in 1904 and annexation of
Korea-Japan in 1910, it has become the common name.
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