Sovereignty of Dokdo
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) of the United States designated the Dokdo Islands as a part of the territory of Korea.
What is drawing attention is the fact that it used all of the names of the island region to recognize the sovereignty of Korea on its official website. Specifically, a total of eight designations are in use to refer to the region -- Dokdo Island, Dok-do, Tokdo, Tokto, Takeshima, Take-shima, Liancourt Rocks, and Hornet Islands. On the website, the region is located at 37 degrees, 15 minutes north latitude and 131 degrees, 52 minutes east longitude and the position can be seen on Google Maps.
Another interesting point is that the map carries the name of Takeshima as well, but the name is used to refer to the other islands of Japan that have the same name. Japan has a total of nine islands having that name, including those in Yamaguchi, Nagasaki, Oita, Gagoshima, and Gumamoto Prefecture.
Also noteworthy is that the NGA specifies the islands of that name are in the jurisdiction of oceans. Still, it has yet to be found out whether the specification allows for the diplomatic stance of Japan, which has claimed that the Dokdo Islands as its territory.
Back in August 1996, the NGA had classified the islands as having un-designated sovereignty. Then, it specified the region as part of Korean territory, but the Board on Geographic Names (BGN) withdrew the decision on July 30, 2008, when the diplomatic disputes arose again surrounding the dominium of the rocks.
“The NGA’s collective designation of Dokdo and Takeshima as a part of the South Korean territory is highly meaningful, because this has the power of quieting all of the controversies over the dominium,” said Moon Ki-seong, who is a Korean journalist living in the United States.