Apple, Google map apps inflame international feud between Japan and Korea over tiny disputed island

[Corey]

While most people agree that Apple’s (AAPL) Maps application has been truly bad, not many thought it could spark an international border dispute. But the Korea Times reports that the Korean government is upset that Apple Maps has listed one of its island territories in both Japanese and Korean because the island in question has been claimed by both countries as their own.

“We protested to Apple’s Korean unit that, because Dokdo is clearly an integral part of our territory, the new reference is unacceptable and it should be marked as the Korean name of Dokodo wherever it is searched for,” an unnamed official told the Korean Times. “Although Apple is a private organization, this is an issue that our government cannot concede on.”

The official said that the timing of Apple’s Maps controversy was particularly bad because “Japan recently changed to an aggressive mode from a defensive mode with regard to the naming issue.”

For what it’s worth, this isn’t just an Apple Maps problem, since the Korean government also asked Google (GOOG) to change its own Maps application to give the island its standard Korean-language name.

 

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