The identify “Liancourt Rocks” seems in Korean search outcomes for Dokdo on Starlink’s availability map. Captured from Starlink availability map.
Starlink, the satellite tv for pc web service operated by SpaceX, drew criticism after its availability map labeled Dokdo because the Liancourt Rocks, a designation critics stated mischaracterizes the islets, that are underneath Korea’s longstanding administrative management. The controversy erupted simply days after the service entered the native market.
The identify Liancourt Rocks is taken from a French whaling ship that handed the islets in 1849.
As of Sunday, a seek for “Dokdo” on Starlink’s availability map additionally returns the identify “Liancourt Rocks.” Deciding on both time period doesn’t produce a blue marker for the islets, used to establish locations the place the service is accessible.
The dispute surfaced shortly after Starlink entered the Korean market. The corporate rolled out two residence web plans final week, itemizing them at 64,000 received ($43) and 87,000 received a month.
Consultants say utilizing the French-derived identify is inaccurate and ignores the established identify.
“Dokdo is Dokdo — it’s a correct noun,” stated Web optimization Kyung-duk, a professor on the College of Inventive Convergence Research at Sungshin Girls’s College. “Lengthy earlier than that French whaling ship ever noticed it, the islets had been known as Dokdo. It isn’t Takeshima (the identify utilized by Japan), nor Liancourt Rocks.”
Web optimization added that he plans to formally request Starlink right the labeling, backed by detailed proof.
This isn’t the primary time a multinational tech firm has confronted backlash over the identify of the islets. In September, Web optimization discovered that Google Maps used “Liancourt Rocks” in 42 international locations, together with Sweden, Australia and New Zealand.
On Google Maps, the islets seem as “Dokdo” when searched in Korea, whereas customers in Japan see “Takeshima,” reflecting the Japanese authorities’s place that the islands are Japanese territory.
