More than 25-thousand people have signed a petition on the White House’s online civil petition Web site urging for the waters between South Korea and Japan to be recognized as the “East Sea.”

The petition was submitted to the U.S. presidential office's “We the People” site by the South Korean community in Virginia on March 22nd.

The White House earlier said that it would issue an official response if the petition drew more than 25-thousand signatures within 30 days of the petition’s posting on the Web site.