The head of the South Sakhalin Office of the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea, Pak Sang-tae, gave a globe to the leader of the indigenous people of North Sakhalin, Vladimir Sangi, in the Russian city of Nogliki, on which Crimea, DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions are marked as part of Ukraine.
The head of the library, Olga Rozhnova, called this "unacceptable" and complained to the Russian Foreign Ministry about the actions of the South Korean diplomat, who “cannot help but understand the responsibility for the deliberate distortion of Russia's borders“.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry did not directly respond to criticism of the globe presented by its diplomat in Sakhalin, which lists Crimea and new regions of Russia as Ukrainian territory, saying only that it was trying to promote its own name for the Sea of Japan, Yonhap reported.
“Our Foreign Ministry responded by explaining that this globe was created based on mapping practices adopted by international organizations and major mapping companies, and is traditionally used to promote the name of the East (Japanese – ed.) Sea. They also said that "from now on, they will be extremely cautious in their activities to promote the name of the East Sea," Yonhap said in a statement.
The agency noted that the South Korean Foreign Ministry stated in 2022 that Seoul would not recognize the entry of new regions into the Russian Federation.
The head of the State Duma's international affairs committee, Leonid Slutsky, has already called the South Korean consul's actions a provocation, stating the readiness of the LDPR party he leads to provide the leadership and diplomats of the Republic of Korea with correct maps and globes showing all the constituent parts of Russia, including Crimea and new regions.