BILL NUMBER:  S715

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the education law, in relation to
requiring certain text-books to reference the Sea of Japan as also the
East Sea

 PURPOSE OF THE BILL :

To require that the Sea of Japan also be referenced as the East Sea in
textbooks used in New York

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of the bill amends the education law by adding a section 706
which will require that any text-book approved and issued pursuant to
section seven hundred one of this article which refers to the Sea of
Japan shall also refer to such sea as the East Sea.

Section 2 of the bill sets an effective date of the July 1, 2017 and
the provisions shall apply to books approved and issued after that
date.

 JUSTIFICATION :

This bill will facilitate an understanding that the body of water that
separates the Korean Peninsula and Japan should also be known as the
              

"East Sea". While the name "Sea of Japan" was introduced sometime
during the late 1920's during a time when Japan occupied Korea, both
Korea and China have referred to this same body of water as the "East
Sea" for well over 2000 years. In addition, there are dozens of world
maps predating the 19th century that refer to this body of water as
the "East Sea".

Moreover, two separate international resolutions have established the
standards of naming a sea area that is shared by multiple countries.
The International Hydrographic Organization Technical Resolution
A.4.2.6 (adopted on March 13, 1974) provided that when countries
sharing a given geographical feature do not agree on a common name,
the names used by each of the countries should be used concurrently.
This standard is confirmed by the United Nations Resolution on
Geographical Names 111/20 (adopted in 1977), which further stated that
accepting only one or some of such names while excluding the rest
would be inconsistent in principle as well as inexpedient in practice.
Furthermore, the internationally established custom indicates that
seas bordering different countries should not be named after one
particular nation. Therefore, a dual reference to the "Sea of Japan"
and the "East Sea" would be in full compliance with this international
principle.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

None.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on July 1, 2017and shall apply to
text-books approved and issued on or after such date.