• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.661-674
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• 2009

In recent academic debates within the UN Group of Experts on Geographical Names, two contrasting views evolved as regards to the status of the names of transboundary features or features beyond a single sovereignty. The partial view posits that a name is an endonym only for those portions of a feature where the name corresponds to the language used while the whole view argues that a name in its official language is an endonym for the whole feature. In either of these views, the name East Sea should be given due respect, for the Korean territorial waters at least or as an endonym for the entire sea. This paper supports the partial view that a geographical feature can be separated and each separated portion can have different name forms and status. Regarding the separation of a feature, the limits to which local people perceive as 'their' sea should be used. The name East Sea is proposed as the translated form of an endonym Donghae.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.442-464
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• 2011

This study aims to provide research fields and topics to complement, extend and develop the geographical toponymy in Korea, largely based on a summary of topics discussed in the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN). The Korean toponymic research has generally focused on revealing human, social and physical characteristics of the region by investigating the creation and change of the geographical names, with the perspective of creator and owner of the toponyms. Toponymic researches in the UNGEGN, in comparison, have put forward with the mission of standardization of geographical names and with specific emphasis on the users of toponyms. The topics include diverse forms of toponyms by user groups, roles of language groups, preservation of toponyms with specific value, etc. As research directions for an establishment of extended geographical toponymy accommodating discussions in the UNGEGN, further research topics are suggested; use of exonyms and endonyms in the Korean language, the nature of geographical feature and perception over it, writing systems for inter-language communication, and geographical names as intagible cultural heritage.