Chinese search engine Baidu labels Korea’s Dokdo islets as Japanese territory

Baidu, China’s largest search engine, has mislabeled Korea’s easternmost Dokdo islets as Japanese territory.

Screen capture of Baidu's map which identifies Korea's Dokdo islets as Japanese territory. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Baidu, China’s largest search engine, has mislabeled Korea’s easternmost Dokdo islets as Japanese territory.

Sungshin Women’s University Professor Seo Kyoung-duk initially reported the issue through his Facebook account on Monday.

“Currently, Dokdo is described as ‘Shimane, Japan,’ with ‘Shimane’ referring to Japan’s Shimane Prefecture,” Seo wrote. “This is a clear mistake by Baidu. Since numerous Chinese netizens could be misled about Dokdo, I plan to send a protest email requesting a correction soon.”

Seo pointed out that Dokdo is also misidentified on other platforms, such as Google Maps and Apple Maps.

On Google Maps, Dokdo is labeled as "Liancourt Rocks," while on Apple Maps, Dokdo is not labeled at all.

“Two years ago, Microsoft provided weather information for Dokdo based on Japan’s data, which was corrected after public criticism,” Seo added.

“I plan to continue protesting to Google, Apple and Baidu so that Dokdo is correctly classified.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]