The International Hydrographic Organization(IHO) has officially adopted new guidelines to identify seas by numbers instead of names, a decision that is expected to end Seoul and Tokyo's long dispute over the name of the sea between the two countries.

This comes after 65 IHO member nations agreed to adopt "S-130," revisions to the IHO standard for world map production "S-23," during last month's General Assembly.

"S-23" had used the Japanese name "Sea of Japan" for the body of water, 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.

The South Korean government plans to actively participate in the formulation process for S-130 and bolster diplomacy to facilitate the new standard's global use.

Seoul will also continue diplomacy to expand the global use of "East Sea" and develop an online monitoring system.