The Virginia Senate passed a bill Thursday that will require future school textbooks to carry both names used by the Japanese and South Korean governments for the waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.
The bill to teach students the East Sea, used by the South Korean government, in addition to the widely used Sea of Japan, has stirred controversy, as the U.S. federal government formally recognizes only the latter.
The bid is backed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Virginia, home to an increasing number of Korean-Americans, and a similar bill has been submitted to the House of Delegates.