[East Sea(5)] 동해인가 일본해인가

 

[East Sea(5)] Understanding East Sea through Korean history

 

2010-06-21

 

I. Introduction

Since the Korean Peninsula is surrounded by water on three sides, Korea has had a keen interest in its waters throughout history. The sea area between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago has been called the “East Sea” in Korea based on the Oriental Thoughts of the Five Elements. More specifically, the names of sea areas surrounding the Korean Peninsula were created based on the combination of the four cardinal directions -north, south, east, west- and the space concept of the “Five Elements.” The East Sea was the one located to the east of the Peninsula.

The first record of the name East Sea can be traced back to a description by King Dongmyeong of the Goguryeo Kingdom in “The History of the Three Kingdoms” in 59 B.C. Meanwhile, the country name “Japan“ first appeared in 670 around 700 years after Korea began using the name East Sea and the appellation Sea of Japan first appeared in 1602 in a map dubbed “Mappamondo (Complete Map of the World)” by Matteo Ricci, an Italian Catholic missionary based in Beijing. Therefore, the name Sea of Japan was first used about 1,650 years after the Koreans began calling the sea area, East Sea.

 

 

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