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The 15th International Seminar on Sea Names was held in Sydney last September. During the seminar, it was confirmed that the Austrian Board on Geographic Names had made a decision with regard to the naming of the sea between Korea and Japan. The Austrian Board established a guiding principle and recommended using both 'East Sea' and 'Sea of Japan' next to each other in publications. Numerous people promoting the use of 'East Sea' in publications had put a great amount of effort before the Austrian Board on Geographic Names, a leader in international discussions about geographic names, made this decision. In this context, we have met Professor Choo Sung-jae who has been very active in promoting the use of 'East Sea' in publications.

Q. How did you personally become interested in promoting the use of 'East Sea' in publications?

Recommended by Professor LEE Ki-Suk, President of the Society for East Sea, I attended the International Seminar on Sea Names held in Paris in 2004 for the first time. I came to think that it was an important matter and had a significant meaning from an academic point of view as well. From that time I began to study on this subject and I have participated in the activities of the Society for East Sea.

Q. During the 15th International Seminar on Sea Names, it was confirmed that the Austrian Board on Geographic Names had made a decision to recommend using both 'East Sea' and 'Sea of Japan' next to each other in publications. How significant is this decision?

The Austrian Board on Geographic Names was the first national board on geographic names that recommended using both 'East Sea' and 'Sea of Japan' next to each other in publications. We have tried to persuade academic experts and map publishers to use 'East Sea' in the maps. The decision of the Austrian Board has a significant meaning because it is a government-administered official organization that responded for the first time. It is only a recommendation that it will be appropriate to put the names of the sea as East Sea / Sea of Japan in maps and school geography books. But, this recommendation will be adopted in all future maps published in Austria.

Q. The Society for East Sea has held the International Seminar on Sea Names annually. What has it achieved until now?

In the early period of the seminars, the title for the seminar was 'International Seminar on the Naming of East Sea'. The name was then changed recently in order to provide a forum with an extended boundary for discussions about sea names in general. In the past, there were scholars reluctant to talk about the issue directly. More scholars are now interested in this issue since the change of the seminar title. East Sea has been dealt with only as an example when discussing sea names in general. Now the issue can be put forward on the discussion tables for influential international experts in geographic names. This is a great progress.

Q. What is your plan on the basis of the past achievement?

Our plan can be divided into three sections. First of all, we will continue to hold the international seminar on sea names. For such a seminar, it is important to consider the participants and the venue of the seminar. Starting from the centers of the leading professionals in geographic names, we will expand the boundary further away from the centers in selecting venues. We are going to expand our activities to Central Africa and South America where we have not paid much attention until now.

Secondly, the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names is the most influential group of people in discussing geographic names. We will attend conferences held by this group and establish a network with those who have attended the conferences. In the 26th Conference of the United Nations Group in 2011, we will report the decision of the Austrian Board on Geographic Names and the result of this seminar. Then, the participating countries will recognize that Korea has led the international seminar and has become an important participant in the United Nations Conference.

Thirdly, we are going to assist Northeast Asian History Foundation in persuading various national boards for geographic names and map publishers. Personally I am going to arouse interest among young people in naming our sea on the east so that more young experts will join us in our activities.

Q. The international society doesn't show interest or doesn't want to be involved when we raise the issue of naming our east sea. What should we do to address this problem?

I think, soft and indirect approaches will be effective for getting professionals involved in the 'East Sea' matter. We will need to hold seminars for discussing sea names in general without restricting the discussions of the seminar to naming our east sea, and we will need to contribute to international naming conferences before we try to expand our role. The UN Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names, convened every five years since 1967, has adopted 195 resolutions in total. The Society for East Sea has recently completed a database of the 195 resolutions with the assistance of National Geography Information Institute. The database has now been uploaded on the internet and the 195 resolutions can be retrieved in the chronological order, by subject or keyword. This is an example of how we can contribute to the international society on one hand and build a basis for persuading them on the other hand.

Q. Are you currently undertaking any researches about naming our east sea?

I have a lot of interest in geographical exonyms which have now become the most frequently studied subject in the world. Exonyms are contrasted with endonyms used by the local people, and the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names recommends avoiding the use of exonyms if possible. For example, according to the UN Group, it would be more appropriate to call the capital city of Japan 'Tokyo' as called by Japanese people rather than 'Donggyeong' which is the Korean way of pronouncing the Chinese characters. But, dealing with exonyms is a bit more difficult in Asia because the same Chinese characters are used in Korea, China and Japan with different pronunciations. I have been interested in this subject and have been watching for several years. I am now ready to start studying geographical exonyms in Asian countries.