동해표기의 국제법적 고찰 - UNCSGN과 IHO 결의를 중심으로

The dispute between Korea and Japan over the name of the sea between Korean Peninsular and Japan has not been settled. Korea suggests that the name East Sea be used together with Sea of Japan in accordance with resolutions issued by the United Nations and the International Hydrographic Organization(IHO). On the other hand, Japan insists that the name Sea of Japan is the only internationally established name for the East Sea. UN Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names (UNCSGN) recommends that “where countries sharing a given geographical features do not succeed in agreeing on a common name, it should be a general rule of international cartography that the name used by each of the countries concerned will be accepted”. International Hydrographic Organization also adopted the similar technical resolution with the resolution adopted by the UNCSGN. IHO recommends that “the name forms of each of the languages in question should be accepted for charts and publications if two or more countries that share a given geographical features (such as , for example, a bay, a strait, channel or archipelago) under different names have different official languages and cannot agree on a common name form”. The East Sea is surrounded by Korea(South and North), Japan, and Russia and connected to the Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea through straits. Thus the East Sea is a geographical features shared by two or more countries and an enclosed or semi-enclosed sea under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Korea and Japan should endeavour to reach agreement on a single name for the East Sea under the UN and IHO resolutions. But they have not been able to agree on a common name. Accordingly the names used by Korea and Japan, namely “East Sea” and “Sea of Japan” are recommended to be accepted by international community for charts and publications.