South Korea and Japan's long dispute over the name of the body of water between the two countries is expected to end with the international community agreeing to adopt a number designation for the sea.

According to Seoul's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, 65 member nations of the International Hydrographic Organization(IHO) agreed to adopt revisions to "S-23," an IHO standard for world map production, during a virtual General Assembly on Monday.

"S-23" currently uses the Japanese name, "Sea of Japan," for the sea and South Korea has been calling for the dual use of "East Sea" and "Sea of Japan" since 1997, arguing that the Japanese name became common during Japan's colonial rule.

After the two Koreas and Japan failed to reach an agreement during unofficial discussions in April and October last year, the IHO chief proposed "a system of unique numerical identifiers."

The IHO's decision will be finalized on December 1.