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Dear Koreanists:
<br>
<o:p> </o:p>
<br>
As
you may have heard, the <st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Tok</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>Island</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
issue has recently spread its controversy all the way to the United
States
Library of Congress and all of our North American university libraries.
<br>
<o:p> </o:p>
<br>
As
the Chair of the Committee on Korean Materials under the auspices of
the
Council on East Asian Libraries of the Association for Asian Studies, I
head an
organization of Korean Studies librarians in <st1:place>North America</st1:place>.
<br>
<o:p> </o:p>
<br>
Recently,
we were shocked to learn that the U.S. Library of Congress had
arbitrarily
planned to officially change the existing subject heading of “<st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Tok</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType>Island</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> (<st1:country-region><st1:place>Korea</st1:place></st1:country-region>)”
to the new heading of “Liancourt Rocks.”<span style="">
</span>Furthermore, within this new subject heading the existing
broader
explanation of “Islands Korea (South)” would be changed to “<st1:place>Islands</st1:place>
of the <st1:place>Sea of Japan</st1:place>.”<span style="">
</span>A closed Library of Congress meeting to ratify this decision was
planned
for July 16.<span style=""> </span>
<br>
<o:p> </o:p>
<br>
Since
this plan was not widely known, our organization took it upon ourselves
to
voice a strong protest to this sudden change, and also made the
relevant South
Korean governmental bodies aware of this situation.<span style=""> </span>Thanks
to the efforts of many parties, I am
pleased to report that the Library of Congress has now officially
postponed any
decision on this matter until there is further international resolution
of this
issue.
<br>
<o:p> </o:p>
<br>
As
Koreanists, I felt that you should be made aware of this matter, and I
hope
that you will actively make your own views on this matter known to the
relevant
parties.<span style=""> </span>In addition, I feel that this
matter also requires the further study and deliberation of experts such
as
yourselves.<span style=""> </span>I hope that we may see much
scholarly activity to elucidate this delicate issue. <br>
<o:p> </o:p>
<br>
Should you require any more detailed information, I would be
happy to share it with you.
<br>
<o:p> </o:p>
<br>
Sincerely,
<br>
<o:p> </o:p>
<br>
Hana Kim
<br>
Chair, Committee on Korean Materials
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
***************************************************************
Hana Kim, Korea Studies Librarian
Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library
University of Toronto Libraries
130 St. George Street, 8th Floor, Room 8049
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5S 1A5
Tel. (416) 978 1570 (7th Fl.) / 978 3805 (8th Fl.)
Fax. (416) 978 0863
Email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:hn.kim@utoronto.ca">hn.kim@utoronto.ca</a>
Web: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.library.utoronto.ca/east/">http://www.library.utoronto.ca/east/</a>
***************************************************************</pre>
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