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Sea of Japan
International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)

October 2007

1. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) was initially established as the International Hydrographic Bureau in 1921. Reinstituted in 1967 as an intergovernmental organization based on the Convention on the International Hydrographic Organization, the IHO has ever since been engaged in various activities to contribute to making navigation easier and safer, including those promoting uniformity in nautical charts and documents. Currently, the organization has 80 member countries and regions, including the ROK and DPRK.
2. One of the IHO activities is to publish a document known as the "Limits of Oceans and Seas", which records the designations and boundaries of oceans and seas in the world. The current version of the document, though published back in 1953, uses the designation "Japan Sea", and efforts have been made to revise the publication intermittently since 1977. Although the ROK, which was admitted to the IHO in 1957, formally agreed to the use of the designation "Japan Sea" for a revised draft text of the publication worked out in 1986, they first spoke against the use of such designation at the 15th International Hydrographic Conference in 1997.
3. In August 2002, the IHO Directing Committee suddenly distributed to the member countries a final draft copy of the 4th edition of the IHO publication "Limits of Oceans and Seas" (S-23) that did not include two pages containing the Sea of Japan. A circular letter (dated 9 August) attached to the draft was also issued for the member countries to put the final draft of the 4th edition to the vote (requesting the member countries to send back their reply to the IHO Secretariat by 30 November 2002). Immediately the Government of Japan lodged a strong complaint with the IHO Directing Committee, stating that the procedure was flawed, and strongly requested to withdraw the circular letter. On 18 September, the Government of Japan dispatched Director-General Koichi Takahashi of the Multilateral Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Director-General Hideo Nishida of Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department of the Japan Coast Guard to IHO headquarters in Monaco, and petitioned again the new members of the Directing Committee (Greece, United States of America, Republic of Chile) most vigorously to withdraw the circular letter and to use the name "Sea of Japan" as it appears in the 1953 edition of the IHO publication. On 19 September the IHO Directing Committee decided to withdraw the circular letter, and issued a new one to hydrographic organizations of all member countries. The main points of the new circular are as follows;
   • (1) Since the issue of the circular letter dated 9 August, the International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB) has received comments from Member States that fundamentally impact the contents of the draft publication and numerous questions regarding the implications of their vote that would require further clarification. Additionally, the IHB has been faced with issues beyond its technical purpose.
   • (2) For these reasons, the IHO Directing Committee withdraws the circular letter (9 August), and removes the final draft of the 4th edition of S-23 from the voting at this time. However, the IHB welcomes comments from Member States on the draft of S-23.
4. At the 17th International Hydrographic Conference held in May 2007, the then President Dr. Williams made a suggestion to divide the revised edition of the "Limits of Oceans and Seas" into two volumes and to publish the first volume in a form that does not include those areas where the concerned states are not in agreement, such as Sea of Japan; and then to publish the second volume after the concerned states have come to an agreement. President Williams's suggestion is unacceptable to Japan on the grounds that it could be misleading in that it would create a wrong impression that a dispute over the name "Sea of Japan" should exist. At the same time, Japan considers that the update of the "Limits of Oceans and Seas" should not be delayed any longer. In light of the consideration, Japan has presented the following counterproposal to the IHO Secretariat, which was circulated to the IHO member states in September 2007.
   
   Japan's Counterproposal:
   • (1) In the revised Fourth Edition of the "Limits of Oceans and Seas", each geographical name of sea area with no agreement among member states concerned will be unchanged from the current Third Edition.
   • (2) In the Fourth Edition, general annotations will be provided at the introduction or at the end, stating that not all names in the Fourth Edition have agreement among member states.
5. The IHO is currently asking its member states for their opinions concerning the Japanese counterproposal while pointing out that there is no agreement on the Chairman's suggestion among member states concerned. It is the sincere hope of Japan that the Japanese counterproposal will gain the understanding and support of the international community, so that the revision of the "Limits of Oceans and Seas" can be realized at an early date.