More on the removal of “East Sea” from a Korean-Japanese friendship monument in Tottori Prefecture
Back in May we reported on a Korean-Japanese friendship monument in Tottori Prefecture that had been altered to remove the Korean name for the Sea of Japan from its inscription. Here’s an update on that story:
A monument commemorating Japan-South Korea ties in Kotoura, Tottori Prefecture, is to be given a new inscription that no longer contains a reference to the “East Sea,” as South Korea refers to the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, replacing the original inscription that referred both to the “East Sea” and “Sea of Japan,” Kotoura officials said Thursday.
The wording of the inscription has triggered controversy in the town, which faces the Sea of Japan, after the town scratched out a reference to “East Sea” from the existing inscription in March, drawing criticism from the pro-Seoul Korean Residents Union in Japan, or Mindan. An official of Mindan’s Tottori Prefecture Headquarter said, “It’s the same as saying ‘let’s stop international exchanges,”‘ while a former mayor of the town of Akasaki, now part of Kotoura, who was involved in building the monument, urged that the original wording be restored.
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