An international conference to promote the recognition of the body of water east of Korea as the "East Sea" will open on Wednesday in Brussels, Belgium.

South Korean academic and historical organizations will host the three-day event in a move to counter Japan’s efforts to have the waters solely recognized internationally as the Sea of Japan.

Thirty experts from 15 countries will participate in the conference to discuss standardizing the name of the waters, which lie between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

South Korean participants will work to promote the validity of using a dual name for the body of water and simultaneously describing it as the “East Sea” and the “Sea of Japan.”

They will seek support from European experts for the dual name system during the conference ahead of the International Hydrographic Organization’s general assembly in April.