Members of the Voluntary Agency Network of Korea staged a protest in front of Google's headquarters in California against Google’s decision to remove Dokdo’s Korean address from its map service.

The nongovernmental cyber diplomatic group's founder, Park Ki-tae, said in an English statement that neither Google nor Apple had the right to forcibly change or omit the address, as South Korea has sovereignty over Dokdo.

The members of the group also took part in a silent protest outside Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California against Apple’s decision to include Japan’s name for Dokdo on its map service. The protesters were seen holding signs with a picture of an apple attacking Dokdo.

Park said the group was also planning to deliver a petition protesting the companies’ actions with 100-thousand signatures.