Dokdo and Ulleung Island are omitted from the Korean map. (image: VANK)
SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — The World Health Organization (WHO), which marked Dokdo and Ulleung Island, the easternmost territories of South Korea, on a Japanese map but not on a Korean map, still remains reluctant to correct the error.
Cyber diplomacy organization Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK) said Monday that the WHO still has not corrected the error even after recently updating its website.
At present, when clicking on South Korea in the countries menu of the WHO website, Dokdo and Ulleung Island are omitted from the Korean map.
In contrast, however, Dokdo and Ulleung Island are included on the Japanese map when clicking on the WHO website’s Japan menu, thereby giving the wrong impression that Dokdo and Ulleung Island are part of Japanese territory.
Worse, the WHO marked on the Japanese map a number of Japan-affiliated Pacific islands in detail.
The VANK found such errors in March when global attention turned to the WHO due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Together with other South Korean netizens, VANK has requested that the WHO correct the errors.
More than 2,600 people around the world have participated in the international petition demanding the WHO to correct the errors.
Starting from Monday, the VANK decided to re-launch a campaign to send protest letters to the WHO, promoting the participation in the international petition, and sending Dokdo and Ulleung Island-marked English maps to the WHO.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
