韩国在美国赢得韩日海洋名称之争

South Korea has welcomed Virginia state lawmakers’ approval of a bill that requires new school textbooks to use the Korean name for the Sea of Japan when referring to the body of water between Japan and Korea.

韩国对美国弗吉尼亚州议员批准一项法案表示欢迎，该法案要求新版教科书在提到日本和韩国之间的海域时，同时采用“日本海”(Sea of Japan)和韩国名称。

Virginia’s House of Delegates voted 81-15 to approve the two-line bill, which requires “all text books approved by the board of education . . . when referring to the Sea of Japan, shall note that it is also called the East Sea”.

弗吉尼亚州议会以81票赞成、15票反对通过了这项两行字的法案，要求“教育局批准的所有课本……在提到日本海时，应注明它也被称为东海(East Sea)”。

The issue has emerged as the latest diplomatic spat between South Korea and Japan, and comes at a time when relations between the two countries are exceptionally bad amid a territorial dispute over an island group that lies in the sea.

这个问题已成为韩国和日本之间最新的外交口水战，并发生在两国关系因围绕上述海域一个岛群的领土纠纷而陷入低谷之际。

Seoul has argued that Tokyo won foreign recognition of the name “Sea of Japan” only during its imperial expansion, and views the term as emblematic of Korea’s humiliation by its neighbour.

首尔主张，东京只是在日本帝国扩张时期才赢得国外对“日本海”这个名称的认可。韩方将这个名称视为朝鲜半岛被邻国占领的羞辱象征。

The passage of the Virginia bill is a rare victory on the matter for the South Korean government, which has struggled for more than two decades to gain international acceptance of its preferred name for the sea.

弗吉尼亚州通过该法案，标志着韩国政府在这个问题上取得罕见的胜利。韩国为了争取国际承认其对该海域的称谓，已经斗争了20余年。

“We welcome the move. And we’re closely watching the remaining procedure,” said Cho Tae-young, spokesman for Seoul’s foreign ministry.

“我们欢迎这一动态，并正在密切关注后续程序，”韩国外交部发言人赵泰永(Cho Tae-young)表示。

The bill will come into effect from July, should Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe sign it into law.

该法案将从7月起生效，前提是弗吉尼亚州州长特里•麦考利夫(Terry McAuliffe)签署法案，使其正式成为法律。

Mr McAuliffe holds veto power but is widely expected to sign the measure, given his previous comments during his election campaign in favour of the Korean perspective.

麦考利夫拥有否决权，但从他此前在竞选期间发表的赞同韩国观点的言论看，普遍预计他将签署该法案。

Mr Cho added that using both of the terms “East Sea” and “Sea of Japan” for the sea made sense, given past resolutions by the United Nations and other international agencies that encouraged such a move when the parties involved have competing claims to a geographic name.

赵泰永表示，同时使用“东海”和“日本海”这两个名称是合理的，因为在有关各方对于某个地理名称存在不同主张的情况下，联合国和其他国际机构以往做出的决议鼓励这么做。

“We think this reasonable claim was accepted by the Virginia assembly this time,” said Mr Cho. “We also think highly of our brethren’s efforts in the US to bring this change.”

“我们认为这一合理诉求现在得到弗吉尼亚州议会的接受，”赵泰永表示。“我们也对我们在美国的同胞推动这一变化的努力给予高度赞赏。”

The passage is a result of a lobbying campaign by local Korean Americans, which has been enthusiastically endorsed by Seoul. Hundreds of Korean Americans showed up on Thursday to cheer the vote in Richmond, the state capital. Virginia’s 82,000 Korean Americans outnumber the state’s 19,000 ethnic Japanese.

该法案得以通过是当地韩裔美国人发起的一场游说活动的结果，而韩国政府对他们的努力热情支持。周四，数百名韩裔美国人出现在州府里士满市，为投票活动助威。弗吉尼亚州有8.2万名韩裔美国人，远远多于该州的日裔人数（1.9万）。

“I hope that Korean Americans in other states will start this movement in their own cities or states,” said Peter Kim, a Virginia resident and president of the Voice of Korean Americans.

“我希望居住在其它州的韩裔美国人在所在的城市或州发起这项运动，”弗吉尼亚州居民、“韩裔美国人之声”(Voice of Korean Americans)主席彼得•金(Peter Kim)表示。

The US federal government officially recognises only the name Sea of Japan while the International Hydrographic Association has repeatedly rejected Seoul’s demand that the name “East Sea” be recognised.

美国联邦政府只承认“日本海”这个名称，而国际海道测量组织(International Hydrographic Organization，简称IHO)已多次拒绝韩国有关承认“东海”这一名称的要求。

The dispute over the bill came amid strained relations between Seoul and Tokyo, which have worsened due to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent visit to the Yasukuni shrine, where convicted war criminals are among those commemorated.

围绕该法案发生纠纷之际，首尔和东京之间关系紧张，而日本首相安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)最近参拜靖国神社(Yasukuni shrine)加剧了这种紧张。靖国神社供奉着日本战争死难者的亡灵，其中包括一些战犯。