The U.S. has reportedly submitted to an international organization its decision to recognize the body of water between Korea and Japan as the Sea of Japan only rather than the East Sea, which is the official name designated by South Korea.

A diplomatic source says that the U.S. recently sent the decision in a letter to the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), and that the organization put it on its Web site.

The decision by the U.S. was in response to the chair of the IHO publication Limits of Oceans and Seas, who asked the U.S. to submit an official opinion on what to call the body of water.

A South Korean Foreign Ministry official says until now, a working-level opinion from the U.S. government has been submitted. The ministry official said that it would push for the simultaneous use of both the East Sea and the Sea of Japan to describe the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.