The Marmot’s Hole

[...] As if the backing of the CIA, Reuters and Canada wasn’t enough, the Japanese have enlisted in yet another ally in their nefarious scheme to steal Dokdo—the British government! According to the Japanese Coast Guard, the Japanese and British governments signed a deal April 17 to sell Japan’s English-language maritime maps through the United Kingdom’s overseas sales network. The Coast Guard said that with the help of the Brits, their English nautical maps, which are currently sold in 10 stores in nine countries, would be sold in 139 stores in 52 nations. Remember, last time the Japanese and British formed an alliance, Tokyo followed it up by blockading Port Arthur and relocating the Russian Baltic Fleet to the bottom of the Korea Strait. The Japanese will start with 14 maps of Tokyo Bay from July. No decision has been made on whether Japan will start selling nautical maps of the Dokdo area through the British sales network, but a Japan Coast Guard official told the Kyunghyang Shinmun that a decision would be reached through negotiations with the British. The United Kingdom has used maps produced by the Japan Coast Guard to produce its own maps of Japan’s major ports and bays and Pacific waters, including Dokdo and the East Sea. With the agreement, Britain plans to affix the seals of both the Japanese and British governments on maps produced by Japan. The problem, of course, is that Japanese maps mark the Dokdo islets as “Takeshima,” and the East Sea as the “Sea of Japan.” And British maritime maps are globally quite influential. According to the National Oceanographic Research Institute, Korea produces its own maritime maps, but sells them only domestically. This is because Japan was selected by the International Hydrographic Organization as the country that draws up the nautical maps for Region K, which includes Korea. This means Japanese-produced maps marked “Takeshima” are getting international recognition. The National Oceanographic Research Institute has been working its butt off ahead of the IHO general meeting to convene in Germany this June on getting Dokdo marked, well, Dokdo. [...]