Seen is a scanned page from a textbook used at an international school in Korea, which shows the French name of the Sea of Japan ― Mer du Japon ― circled in red. Courtesy of Rep. Ahn Min-suk

By Lee Hae-rin

Twelve international schools in Korea have been found to be using textbooks that refer to the body of water that lies to the east of the Korean Peninsula only as the Sea of Japan, without mentioning East Sea, which is the name used by Korea.

According to Rep. Ahn Min-suk of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), 12 out of 38 international schools in the country use 24 textbooks that use only the names Sea of Japan or Takeshima, islets better known as Dokdo in Korea. The number of Korean nationals who attend these schools stands at 1,173.
The study was conducted in 2020 by local offices of education across the country upon the request of the Ministry of Education on 38 foreign and international schools and educational institutions using 216 textbooks. Two Japanese schools were not included in the survey.

Also, 17 other schools were found to use 27 additional textbooks that include East Sea, which is the South Korea-approved English translation, side by side with the Sea of Japan.

One school used a textbook that identifies the Dokdo Islets (Korean name) as Takeshima (Japanese name), while two others used two textbooks that put both names side by side. Korea considers the islets as its easternmost territory. Japan has also repeatedly laid claim to the islets.

Foreign and international schools, established to educate foreign and Korean students, are subject to the domestic laws of the territory they operate within. As a result, Korean nationals graduating from foreign and international schools here must receive 102 hours of Korean history education a year to have their academic level certified at an equivalent level to that of regular Korean school graduates.

Korean schools use government-certified textbooks or receive government supervision on the use of non-certified textbooks. These textbooks name those disputed regions the East Sea and the Dokdo Islets, in adherence with the local historical narrative.

Foreign and international schools tend to use textbooks that follow long-held international standards and perspectives on geographical names.

In 2016, a similar question was raised at the Korean education committee's annual parliamentary audit with the education ministry which has been conducting regular content examinations and campaigns on naming conventions. Yet, such objections are rarely raised to these schools due to concerns diplomatic conflicts.

Rep. Ahn said that the government should continue to work with the public, private sector and academic circles to "correctly" convey Korea's history and culture.

In response, the education ministry said in a statement released Monday that it is difficult to immediately rectify textbooks used at international schools because they often use textbooks that are produced and used in their home countries. The ministry will send official letters of request for cooperation on the matter and work on spreading the Korean historical perspective.