The U.S. government has proposed to the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) that the term “East Sea” be used as an alternative term to describe the body of water between Korea and Japan.

An official at the South Korean Embassy in Washington said Tuesday that the embassy discussed on various occasions with the U.S. IHO representative labeling the waters “East Sea” in the IHO's main publication "Limits of Oceans and Seas" in addition to the term “Sea of Japan.”

The representative maintained the U.S. would continue to solely use “Sea of Japan” in the publication's main text.

However, the U.S. proposed that the term “East Sea” be included in a supplement to the main text in a bid to explain that the waters between South Korea and Japan are also known as the “East Sea.”

The IHO used the term “Japan Sea” when it published its first edition of “Limits of Oceans and Seas” in 1929 when Korea was under Japanese colonial occupation, leading to the common use of the term globally.