In its latest edition, the National Geographic magazine has employed both terms, "East Sea" and "Sea of Japan", to refer to the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

National Geographic used both terms in a map of the Korean Peninsula published as a supplement to the magazine's July edition, which features a cover story on the Demilitarized Zone to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the Korean War (1950-53).

A Korean Embassy official in Washington was optimistic that the use of the term "East Sea" by the eminent publication would be an important step in South Korean moves to have the term officially recognized around the world.

The body of water in question was first called "Sea of Japan" by the International Hydrographic Organization in 1929 at Tokyo's behest, and the name has since been used in "Limits of Oceans and Seas," a publication used to name territorial waters around the world.

Since the early 1990s, Korea has lobbied to have the "East Sea" term recognized internationally, while Japan has been insisting the name remain unchanged.