WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― Efforts to publicize the name “East Sea” for the body of water between Korea and Japan are resonating in states close to the U.S. capital, brightening the prospects for the nationwide campaign, a group of Korean Americans here dedicated to the initiative said Friday.
Montgomery County in Maryland has decided to require its public schools to use textbooks identifying the East Asian body of water as the East Sea as well as the Sea of Japan, according to a document released by the Voice of Korean Americans.
“In response to this culturally sensitive topic, Montgomery County Public Schools has updated its internal social studies textbook review process to require the dual labeling of this body of water in any textbook or atlas to be approved for use in MCPS,” Erick Lang. associate schools superintendent, said in a letter to principals.
Although many publishers now include dual labeling, every effort should be taken when ordering new textbooks, atlases, or other instructional materials, to obtain materials that include both labels, added Lang.
Koreans contend the name Sea of Japan, which is still more popular in the international community, is a legacy of Japan‘s imperialistic past.
The U.S. government officially calls it the Sea of Japan under a single-name policy.
VoKA, however, emphasized that educators in the U.S. should approach the issue from an academic perspective, acknowledging that there exists a dispute in the naming of the sea.
VoKA said Montgomery County’s decision would provide a further boost to its campaign.
“Montgomery Country has more than one sixth of the total population in Maryland. The revision of rules this time is very meaningful. It would greatly help our work to persuade the education offices of other regions,” said Peter Y. Kim, head of VoKA.
In Virginia, some politicians have up rolled up their sleeves for relevant legislation.
Earlier last week, Richard Black, a Republican member of the Virginia Senate, became the latest local politician to announce plans to introduce legislation requiring the use of “East Sea” in public school textbooks.
Earlier, Dave Marsden, a Democratic senator in Virginia, and Tim Hugo, a senior Republican member of the Virginia House, made similar announcements.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
