Published on January 12, 2020.
This article republishes a chapter originally issued on January 19, 2019, addressing the issue of South Korea and North Korea’s campaign to rename or jointly label the Sea of Japan as the “East Sea.”
Quoting a Sankei Shimbun report on the Japanese government’s decision to hold informal talks with South Korea and North Korea at the request of the International Hydrographic Organization, it criticizes South Korea’s international lobbying, the stance of the Asahi Shimbun and NHK, and the broader structure of anti-Japanese propaganda, including the Takeshima issue.

January 12, 2020
When countries of “bottomless evil” and “plausible lies” had begun a fierce propaganda campaign to steal even the name of the Sea of Japan, what on earth were the Foreign Ministry, the Asahi Shimbun, and NHK doing?
I am republishing, with paragraphs tightened and other adjustments, the chapter I issued on January 19, 2019, titled “What on Earth Were Japan’s Foreign Ministry and Media Doing When Such Countries of ‘Bottomless Evil’ and ‘Plausible Lies’ Began a Fierce Propaganda Campaign to Steal Even the Name of the Sea of Japan?”
A little while ago, when I saw the front-page article in this morning’s Sankei Shimbun, my blood instantly rose to my head.
The emphasis in the text, apart from the headline, and the passages marked by ～ are mine.
“Sea of Japan” Talks with South Korea and the North
Government Policy: Accepting the Request of an International Organization
What on earth is this about?
Every Japanese citizen must have thought that for an instant.
It became known on the 18th that, regarding the issue in which South Korea and North Korea are insisting that the name Sea of Japan be changed to, or jointly written with, “East Sea,” the Japanese government has decided to hold informal talks with the two countries in response to a strong request from the International Hydrographic Organization, IHO, which publishes “Limits of Oceans and Seas,” a guideline compiling the world’s maritime names.
The confrontation of opinions is decisive, and if the claims of South Korea and North Korea are accepted at the next IHO general assembly, the guideline could be revised for the first time in more than sixty years, and the name “East Sea” could become internationally standardized.
According to multiple diplomatic sources, the informal talks among Japan, South Korea, and North Korea are planned for around this spring, and arrangements are being made for Japan to send officials at the director-general level from the Foreign Ministry and others.
The three countries are expected to narrow down their views on the guideline, whose third edition was published in 1953 and which lists the Sea of Japan area as “Japan Sea.”
The IHO side is asking that the results be reported at the 2020 general assembly.
South Korea and North Korea first raised the naming issue of the Sea of Japan at a United Nations conference in 1992, saying, among other things, that it was “the result of Japanese colonialism.”
At first, they demanded that the name be changed to “East Sea,” but in recent years they have been calling for it to be written together with Sea of Japan.
At the IHO, revision of the guideline was discussed in the 2000s, but the confrontation between Japan and South Korea and North Korea became an obstacle, and no progress was made.
This round of talks was decided in a form in which Japan was pushed by the South Korean side, which had actively developed lobbying activities urging officials of various countries to support renaming or joint naming.
What on earth were Japan’s Foreign Ministry and media doing when countries of “bottomless evil” and “plausible lies” had begun a fierce propaganda campaign to steal even the name of the Sea of Japan?
What on earth were the Foreign Ministry, the Asahi Shimbun, and NHK doing?
Reporters of the Asahi Shimbun have written in their articles about Takeshima, which was illegally occupied by Syngman Rhee amid the confusion after Japan’s defeat, as Takeshima “Dokdo.”
In other words, in every possible matter, the Asahi Shimbun has encouraged and inflated the “bottomless evil” and “plausible lies” of the Korean Peninsula.
Japan should not only have ordered this newspaper company to cease publication five years ago in August, but should also have confiscated all of its assets to compensate for the enormous losses Japan has suffered.
It is not too late even now.
Japan should immediately order it to cease publication and seize all of this company’s assets.
The moment such a decision is made, the Korean Peninsula would, in an instant, stop forever its extortion, blackmail, and every kind of outrage against Japan.
In other words, this is the urgent task that Japan must carry out now.
The Japanese side had been negative about negotiating with North Korea, which does not respond to the resolution of important pending issues such as denuclearization and the abduction issue, and had taken the position that it would not respond to talks involving South Korea, with which relations had cooled over the so-called wartime labor issue.
However, since North Korea had held a summit meeting with the United States, Japan judged that it would be difficult to refuse on the grounds of its diplomatic posture and other reasons.
The IHO secretariat side also demanded a response, saying that “if Japan does not agree to talks, we will consider abolishing the guideline,” and so Japan changed its policy.
At a press conference on the 18th, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga stated, “As a responsible member of the IHO, we intend to contribute constructively,” and emphasized, “Sea of Japan is the only internationally established name.
There is neither a need nor a basis to change it.”
The attitude of the Korean Peninsula is exactly the real-life embodiment of “if a lie is told one hundred times, it becomes the truth,” and loudly at that.