Hello!

I am Jieun Myoung, a high school student from Chungnam Foreign Language High School in South Korea. Earlier this year, I have read the weekly TIME magazine published on March 11. Among the others, I especially enjoyed reading an article titled ‘Private Jones Comes Home’ about William Hoover Jones lying in honor in the North Carolina State Capitol. I learned how the Korean War had even affected people on the other side of the planet who helped our country back in the ’40s. From this, I could see one of the most important events in the history of our nation from a foreigner’s perspective.

What is the problem?

While reading through the article, I recognized one naming error for the sea area between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago. On page 27 and 28 of the magazine, only the name ‘Sea of Japan’ was written for describing the sea area, even though it is bordered by both Japan and Korea. Since there has been a naming dispute going on and both nations are yet to agree upon a common name for the sea area, it is inappropriate to name it only ‘Sea of Japan’, and it should both be called by the ‘East Sea’ and ‘Sea of Japan’

Since naming errors are commonly and overtly happening across the world, people might think that it is not a big deal. However, there is a Korean island, ‘Dokdo’ located in the middle of that body of water, so the naming issue matters at least for Koreans. Even though Dokdo was recognized by Japan as Korean territory in 1696, Japan now claims that it is Japanese territory. What we are concerned about is that if the sea area is only called by the name ‘Sea of Japan,’ some people will surely think Dokdo is Japanese territory just because it is located in that area.

In 1929, when IHC (International Hydrographic Organization) published ‘Limits of Oceans and Seas’, Japan registered the body of water as ‘Sea of Japan’ and it was passed. At that time, Korea was illegally colonized by Japan. In such circumstances, we did not have any sovereign power to exert in the international community. We did not have the right to deny Japan and IHC’s decision. Moreover, in 1937, when the second edition of ‘Limits of Oceans and Seas’ came out, Korea was focused on the Korean War. Since then, in 1974, IHC has recommended marking all the names that countries directly involved want as long as there are no agreements between the neighboring countries on naming conventions. For these reasons, it is unfair and wrong to solely use the name ‘Sea of Japan’. Both names respectively have different perspectives since the sea area is on the east side of Korea and the west side of Japan. Therefore, the Korean government claims that it is right to use the ‘East Sea’ and ‘Sea of Japan’ together in the absence of agreement on a single name.

TIME magazine is read by not only English users, but also people who are learning English, just like me. Because of this, TIME magazine, who has worldwide influence, should be objective as much as possible all the time. Naming errors like the one in TIME magazine must be fixed and should not occur again.

Our goals

I want to make some suggestions for TIME magazine.

Firstly, please change the single-use of ‘Sea of Japan’ to the concurrent use of the “East Sea” and the “Sea of Japan” in the article ‘Private Jones Comes Home’ in the weekly magazines and on the TIME website. Since the article is based on the Korean War, it is more inappropriate to name the body of water as only ‘Sea of Japan’.

Secondly, whenever talking about the sea area between Korean and Japan in TIME articles in the future, please use the ‘East Sea’ and ‘Sea of Japan’ together. If TIME constantly uses the sole term ‘Sea of Japan’ to describe that body of water, more and more people will believe Dokdo is part of Japanese territory although it has always been considered a Korean Island in Korea.

Lastly, please consider writing articles on naming disputes (including the East Sea/Sea of Japan) happening in the world. There are currently numerous sea areas called by disputable names. For example, the American island, Guam, located in the Philippine Sea, island countries, such as Sri Lanka and the Maldives, which are not parts of Indian territories but located on the India Sea, and the South China Sea, which is not Chinese territory. Unsuitable names are commonly used internationally and left alone without being altered due to historical reasons and national powers. Please, join us in getting people’s attention to these issues and letting more people know about these sea areas so that they can be called by more suitable names.

The single-use of ‘Sea of Japan’ in the article ‘Private Jones Comes Home’ in TIME magazine published on March 11th, 2019 is wrong and should be fixed. Koreans have tried our best to demand modification of any naming errors for the East Sea so that our next generation can see the world with more historically accurate information. Please, take part in our meaningful journey to save our territory.

Thank you!