Successful partial correction by painting all areas in conflict with Russia… The East Sea is still the ‘Sea of Japan’

Succeeded in partially modifying Russia-Russia dispute area with Japanese island colors... The East Sea is still the ‘Sea of Japan’

(Tokyo = Yonhap News) Correspondent Cho Seong-mi = When the territorial dispute between Japan and Russia was marked in favor of Russia on the official map of the 'Equal Earth projection' that the United Nations General Assembly recently recommended for each country to adopt, the Japanese government quickly responded and achieved some results.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, a spokesperson for the Japanese government, said at a regular press conference on the 11th that he had requested changes to the official website of the Equal Earth Map regarding the labeling of the Kuril Islands, a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, and that his request had been partially accepted.

Originally, on the map of the Equal Earth official website, the four islands of the Kuril Islands (Japanese name Northern Territory) were painted in yellow like Russian territory, and the description below read, "Russia effectively controls them and Japan claims sovereignty over them."

Japan objected to this, saying it was Japan's own territory illegally occupied by Russia, and on some maps of the Equal Earth projection checked on the 11th, the color of these islands changed to gray, the same as the Japanese archipelago.

The color of the four islands of the Kuril Islands has changed to gray in the English and Japanese versions of the maps, but they are still yellow in the Chinese and Korean versions.

Minister Kihara said, "We requested the operator of a map website whose notation was confirmed to be contrary to the Japanese government's position to correct the notation through the embassy overseas, and we understand that certain corrective measures have been taken accordingly."

He emphasized, "The government maintains the position that misconceptions about our country's territory and geographical names should not spread, and if any labeling that runs counter to the Japanese government's position is found in the future, we will take necessary measures and respond thoroughly."

On the 4th (local time), the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution recommending that governments, educational institutions, international organizations, and technology companies adopt a new map based on the Equal Earth projection, which accurately displays the area and has relatively little shape distortion. 164 countries, including Japan, approved.

Meanwhile, some point out that unlike the Japanese government, the Korean government is slow in responding to this map.

The official Equal Earth mapping map indicates the East Sea as the 'Sea of ​​Japan' (日本海) in all English, Chinese, and Japanese versions, except for the Korean version produced and provided by the private organization VANK, a cyber diplomatic mission.

Park Ki-tae, director of VANK, pointed out, “The Japanese government is making an all-out war regarding the Equal Earth map, but I don’t know how our diplomatic authorities are responding.” (Reporting Assistant: Correspondent Kim Ji-su)