The South Korean Foreign Ministry commented on the incident with the globe with Crimea presented to Sakhalin

The South Korean Foreign Ministry has responded to criticism over the presentation of a globe with Crimea as part of Ukraine to the leader of the small indigenous minorities of northern Sakhalin, Russian Vladimir Sangi. The Yonhap News Agency reported this on February 12.

In addition to Crimea, new Russian territories - Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DNR, LNR), Zaporizhzhya and Kharkiv regions - are indicated on the globe as part of Ukraine.

The South Korean ministry specified that the globe was made "on the basis of cartographic practices and standards of international organizations and major map publishers". It is noted that the South Korean government is using the globe to promote the labeling of the East Sea, which is more commonly referred to as the Sea of Japan.

"We will exercise great caution in our future efforts to promote the naming of the East Sea," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Sangi, in turn, called the gift impolite and pointed to the possibility of viewing it as a call for separatism, Gazeta.Ru specified.

Crimea became part of Russia in 2014 after a referendum in which the majority of the peninsula's residents voted in favor of reunification with the Russian Federation. Kiev refuses to recognize the results of the vote and considers Crimea its territory. The Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that the residents of Crimea democratically voted for reunification in full compliance with international law and that the question of the peninsula's belonging to the Russian Federation is finally closed.