Anchor: The conflict between South Korea and Japan over the name of the body of water separating them is expected to be addressed later this year. The International Hydrographic Organization appears set to adopt a numerical system to name all bodies of water, which would put an end to the dispute. The decision is expected to be finalized at the organization's general assembly in November of this year.
Sam Len reports.

Report: The sea separating South Korea and Japan is expected to be referred to by a number, along with all other bodies of water.

The International Hydrographic Organization, an inter-governmental agency that surveys and charts the world's oceans, has offered the numerical alternative, which would be a solution to a conflict between South Korea and Japan over what to call the body of water.

The numerical alternative is expected to be adopted at the IHO's general assembly on November 16 this year to revise the latest publication of S-23, an IHO standard for world map production.

"S-23" currently uses the Japanese name, "Sea of Japan," for the sea, while South Korea has been calling for the dual use of "East Sea" and "Sea of Japan" since 1997. 

After the two Koreas and Japan failed to reach an agreement during unofficial discussions in April and October last year, the head of the IHO proposed "a system of unique numerical identifiers."

Both South Korea and Japan have supported the idea in the age of digitization. 

North and South Korea claim that the name "East Sea" has been used for more than two-thousand years. But the name was not known in modern times, because the Korean Peninsula was under Japanese colonial occupation from 1910-45, when the S-23 publication settled on the name favored by Japan.

When the publication was last revised in 1953, the two Koreas were at war and unable to object.
Sam Len, KBS World Radio News