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| Dokdo / gettyimagesbank |
By Kang Seung-woo
The websites of some foreign embassies based in Seoul have been using maps that fail to identify Dokdo, an activist professor said, Wednesday.
Dokdo is Korea's easternmost islets that Japan has repeatedly claimed is part of its territory.
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| Seo Kyoung-duk |
Seo Kyoung-duk, a professor of Sungshin Women's University known for his campaigns to inform foreign countries of Korean culture and history based on facts, surveyed the maps on the websites of the embassies of the Group of Seven countries ― Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States ― as well as China and found that half of them did not include Dokdo.
The map of the U.S. Embassy's website does not identify Dokdo and the East Sea, while that of the French Embassy's website describes Dokdo and the East Sea as the Liancourt Rocks and the Sea of Japan.
The Liancourt Rocks are named after a French whaling ship that came across the islets in 1849.
The Japanese government refers to the islets as Takeshima and denies Korea's sovereignty.
The website of the German Embassy uses Google Maps which labels Dokdo as the Liancourt Rocks, and the website of the Canadian embassy offers a map that can be downloaded in PDF form, but there was no indication of Dokdo.
The Italian and Japanese embassies offer maps only around their buildings, and the British and Chinese embassies do not have maps on their websites.
"It is quite obvious that foreign embassies in Korea need to consider public sentiment of the host country, but it is a problem that they use maps that fail to identify Dokdo," Seo said.
"I will continue to survey other foreign embassies' websites and send protest emails for them to correct it."
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