Editing Sea of Japan naming dispute (section)

===International Hydrographic Organization===
{{main article|International Hydrographic Organization}}Limits of Oceans and Seas
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) coordinates with member countries over [[Hydrography|hydrographic]] issues. One of the organization's functions is to standardise the delineation of nautical regions. In 1929, the organization (then called the International Hydrographic Bureau) published edition 1 of "IHO Special Publication 23" (IHO SP 23), titled [[Limits of Oceans and Seas]]. This included the limits of the sea area between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, designated as "Sea of Japan"; however, at that time, Korea could not participate in the IHO because it was under Japanese rule. The name "Sea of Japan" remains in the 3rd edition of SP-23, published in 1953.<ref name="KHOA">{{cite web|title=IHO Special Publication 23|url=http://eastsea.nori.go.kr/eng/open_content/iho/magazine.asp|publisher=Korean Hydrographic and Oceanographic Administration|year=2004|access-date=10 September 2010|archive-date=30 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121230120242/http://eastsea.nori.go.kr/eng/open_content/iho/magazine.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> South Korea officially joined the IHO in 1957.<ref name="JCGchronology">{{cite web|title=Major Historical Background Information|url=http://www1.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/GIJUTSUKOKUSAI/nihonkai/keii_eng.htm|publisher=[[Japan Coast Guard]]|date=29 January 2009|access-date=21 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524121526/http://www1.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/GIJUTSUKOKUSAI/nihonkai/keii_eng.htm|archive-date=24 May 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In 1974, IHO released Technical Resolution A.4.2.6. This resolution stated:
<blockquote>It is recommended that where two or more countries share a given geographical feature (such as a bay, a strait, channel or archipelago) under different names, they should endeavour to reach agreement on a single name for the feature concerned. If they have different official languages and cannot agree on a common name form, it is recommended that the name forms of each of the languages in question should be accepted for charts and publications unless technical reasons prevent this practice on small scale charts.</blockquote>
South Korea has argued that this resolution is relevant to the debate about the Sea of Japan and implies that both names should be used; Japan, however, argues that the resolution does not apply to the Sea of Japan, because it does not specify this body of water and only applies to geographical features for which sovereignty is shared between two or more countries and not applicable to high seas like the sea area between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago.<ref name = MOFApamphlet2003/> Contrary to Japan's claim, there are no high seas in accordance with the [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]] (UNCLOS) in the sea area between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago. {{cn span|text=Even if Japan's usage of the term "high seas" includes exclusive economic zones, there are no grounds in international law for Japan's claim that these resolutions are not applicable to the case of East Sea/Sea of Japan.|date=April 2025}} The English Channel/La Manche, which is referred to in the IHO Resolution 1/1972 as an example of concurrent usage, is composed of only the territorial seas and the exclusive economic zones of the UK and France. The East Sea/Sea of Japan is also composed of only territorial seas and exclusive economic zones of its coastal states, which is no different from the case of English Channel/La Manche. Therefore, this resolution should be applicable to the case of East Sea/Sea of Japan.{{Cn|date=February 2025}}

In 2017, the IHO's 1st Session of the Assembly was held and the member states decided to discuss the future of S-23, taking into account the growing need to modernize the publication, the latest edition of which was published in 1953.{{Cn|date=February 2025}}

At the 2nd Session of the Assembly in 2020, the member states decided to replace the sea area names in S-23 with unique numerical identifiers and to develop a new digital standard (S-130) that meets the requirements of contemporary geographic information systems. While developing a data-set to designate geographic sea areas by a system of unique numerical identifiers only, S-23 is kept publicly available as it is, as part of existing IHO publication, to demonstrate the evolutionary process from the analogue to the digital era. The IHO currently has a project team working to release S-130 by 2026.<ref name="Second Session of the IHO Assembly (A-2)">{{cite web|title=Second Session of the IHO Assembly (A-2)|url=https://iho.int/uploads/user/About%20IHO/Assembly/Assembly2/A-2_Final_Summary_Records_EN.pdf|publisher=[[IHO]]|access-date=23 August 2024}}</ref> Japan and South Korea disagree on whether unofficial usage of the name Sea of Japan will decline following S-130's replacement of S-23.<ref>{{cite news|title=South Korea's Fight Against the 'Sea of Japan' Pays Off|first=Mitch|last=Shin|work=[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]]|location=Washington, D.C.|date=November 23, 2020|accessdate=February 16, 2025|url=https://thediplomat.com/2020/11/south-koreas-fight-against-the-sea-of-japan-pays-off}}</ref>