The body of water that separates Korea and Japan is known as the Sea of Japan (in Japan's opinion) or the East Sea (in South Korea's view) but how that area is described has been the subject of intense debate and discussion.

A Korean group calling itself VANK, or Voluntary Agency Network of Korea, has been lobbying various Web sites to change the name of the Sea of Japan to the East Sea and more recently, e-mails from Japanese organizations to The Advertiser have implored us to keep the name solely as the Sea of Japan.

Korea argues that calling it the Sea of Japan is a result of Japan's imperialistic rule over that country and that the East Sea was its true geographical name erased by Japan's military rulers during their occupation in the early 20th century. Japan says its name first appeared on a 17th-century world map created by Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit priest, and by the early 19th century it was almost universally used on countless maps around the world.

The Advertiser has been inconsistent with the use of the name, calling it "East Sea (Sea of Japan)" in a Korean drama column, the "Sea of Japan" in a Rising East column and the "Sea of Japan (East Sea)" in news service stories. The latter description, also adopted by The Associated Press and other news organizations, is what we should always be following because it comes from most modern-day world maps.

When we use both names, we usually hear about it from local representatives of the Consulate General of Japan. Through the years, we have received many letters about how the Sea of Japan should be the only name used in our stories. Earlier this year, a delegation from the consul general's office presented us with an eight-page brochure and accompanying DVD from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make their case. The brochure was entitled: "Sea of Japan, the one and only name familiar to the international community."

Their material included surveys the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs took of 1,213 maps at the U.S. Library of Congress, 215 maps at the French National Library (Bibliotheque Nationale de France) and 58 maps of the British Library and the University of Cambridge. They assert that more than 85 percent of the maps make mention only of the Sea of Japan.

The Japanese foreign affairs ministry also argues that using both names creates confusion that would "have an adverse effect on the safety of international maritime traffic."

This survey and other detailed information provided by the Japanese government is persuasive — and we respect our local Japanese consulate officials' point of view — but we prefer to use both names as long as the designation is in dispute.