A technical glitch on the website of the CIA World Factbook caused a diplomatic storm in a teacup on Monday as Korea's easternmost islands of Dokdo suddenly disappeared from the map.
When they were restored, they were still called "Liancourt Rocks," after a French whaling vessel that came close to the islets at the height of European Imperialism in the 19th century.
The CIA uses the name to maintain a front of neutrality favoring its key regional ally Japan, which maintains a dubious colonial claim to the islets.
According to the CIA version of history, "Japan and South Korea claim Liancourt Rocks... occupied by South Korea since 1954."
The Korean government was alarmed by the glitch as the Factbook is quoted by about 920,000 websites around the world and pledged to act decisively.
"The government has clearly delivered its stance to the U.S. over the naming of the Dokdo islets and the East Sea," said a ministry spokesman said. "We are aggressively making efforts to rectify the matter by delivering our stance to the CIA and the State Department."
A CIA spokesman told the Korean Foreign Ministry the disappearance was due to a technical glitch as the Factbook maps were being updated and Dokdo has now been restored to its rightful place, though not its proper name.
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2015/01/06/2015010601036.html
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