Sea of Japan

I have learned the name as Sea of Japan in any sociology/geography/Japanese and world history classes I have taken in Japan.

I thought everyone in the world was happy with that name until I took a flight by Korean Airlines in the mid 90s to go to Paris. On the flight to Paris from Seoul, Korean Airlines' video projector was showing a map and where we were flying over. I noticed that there wasn't a name like "Sea of Japan" in the place where the name was supposed to be. Instead, it was named as "East Sea." I felt strange, but I soon understood that they could have different names for whatever international.

I didn't think further more after that.

According to Wikipedia, this sea has been named in such different ways:

There is a controversy between Japan and Korea over what the international name for this sea should be. Japan insists that it be called Sea of Japan. North Korea insists on East Sea of Korea, and South Korea insists on East Sea.

Over the centuries, this sea has been called by various names including East Sea, East Sea of Korea, Japanese Sea, Sea of Corea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Korea, and Oriental Sea. The name Sea of Japan was standardized by the International Hydrographic Bureau in 1919, when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule.

Recently, between Korean and Japanese politicians, there are so many misunderstandings and miscommunication. I hope people on the both sides will have more constructive process sooner.

From Japanese paper online, I just learned that Korean politics, that push "East Sea" for the international sea's name, took an artwork by Nam Jun Park down from the National Contemporary Art Museum in Korea because the artwork used an old map made in Europe and the map had the name, "Sea of Japan."

Um, Calm down, people! It's just an artwork!

Come on, stupid politicians! It's just a name! Why don't we create a new name together?