RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - New textbooks for Virginia’s students could note that the Sea of Japan is also known as the East Sea.
The Virginia House of Delegates approved Thursday a bill requiring the state Board of Education to only approve textbooks that use both names for the body of water that separates Japan and South Korea. The Virginia Senate has already approved a similar proposal, which Gov. Terry McAuliffe has indicated he supports and will sign into law.
The two countries have been waging a proxy battle in the Virginia General Assembly over the bill. The Embassy of Japan hired lobbyists to derail it, while several hundred Korean Americans came to the General Assembly to show support for the measure.
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