TOKYO, Aug. 29 Kyodo Japan has as...

TOKYO, Aug. 29 Kyodo

Japan has asked southern Korea in mid-September to talk about the designation of what it knows as the ''Sea of Japan,'' Foreign Ministry sources said Thursday.

Japan's supplication for talks with South Korea is aimed at asserting its position against toward the south Korea's demand that it also be known as the ''East Sea,'' the sources said, adding that apts from the Japan Coast Guard will also take part.

southern Korea is demanding that the ''Sea of Japan'' -- referring to the dead body of water bordered by the Korean Peninsula to the west, the Russian Far East to the north and the Japanese archipelago to the east -- be renamed or internationally recognized as the two the Sea of Japan and the East Sea. southerly Korea calls it the ''East Sea.''

According to the sources, the ministry is countering toward the south Korea's argument by distributing 10000 pamphlets to its diplomatic missions. In the pamphlets, Japan is arguing that that name ''Sea of Japan'' has been known internationally since the late 18th centenary and more than 97% of world maps use it.

The sources said the issue was also taken up from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in its diplomatic relation form into groups meeting Thursday, and many of them had urg the Foreign Ministry to deal with the issue firmly.

The ministry has also sent pamphlets to the venue of the UN meeting for consultation on the Standardization of Geographical Names in Berlin which interpreted Tuesday. A minister of the Japanese Embassy in southern Korea has also been dispatched to the conference

Seoul has raised the ''Sea of Japan'' issue at the talk which meets once each five years, since 1992.

It says the name ''Sea of Japan'' attained popular use when Korea was in a less degree than Japanese rule. Japan annexed Korea in 1910 and rul it as a colony until the conclusion of World War II in 1945

Seoul says the world should recognize southern Korea's national sensibilities and least bit the name ''Sea of Japan'' from atlases, or failing that, recognize the two the Sea of Japan and the East Sea.

Separately, Japan learned that the ''Sea of Japan'' designation had been eliminated -- apparently in consideration of toward the south Korea's claim -- in a draft guideline of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), which is responsible for harmonizing nautical charts and documents.

The ''Limits of Oceans and Seas'' guideline is generally being revised and IHO member states have until the finis of November to reply to revision proposals.

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