A Google search for Gyeokryeolbi Yeoldo returns a result that calls the island ‘Tschok-dschom’ for an unknown reason. (image: VANK)
SEOUL, May 18 (Korea Bizwire) — ‘Tschok-dschom’. This seemingly unreadable English word is actually used to refer to Gyeokryeolbi Yeoldo, the westernmost island in South Chungcheong Province.
It is one of the 23 islands that determine South Korea’s territorial sea.
A Google search for the island, however, returns a result that calls the island ‘Tschok-dschom’ for an unknown reason.
The Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK), a South Korean civic group promoting the country and its history online for an international audience, has been asking Google to correct the term to ‘Gyeongnyeolbi-yeoldo’ ever since it was pointed out in March of last year, without ever receiving a response.
VANK said the term ‘Tschok-dschom’ first appeared in U.S. naval records from February 1898. The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also uses the same name.
What’s more, Google wrongly calls the Tamjin River in Jangheung County, South Jeolla Province ‘Chimjin-gang’.
VANK and other local agencies have been pressuring Google to correct these terms, to which Google has yet to respond.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
Google may be slow to respond because VANK has a universally bad reputation for online harassment, so google does not view them as a legitimate source of complaints.