So it turns out the UNGEGN is not actually a decisionmaking authority on individual toponyms. Their role is to encourage and facilitate standardization. They literally issue guidelines about guidelines. The closest thing to an authority on the gulf’s name in international law would be the International Hydrographic Organization. The IHO’s Limits of Oceans and Seas has been frozen in time without any updates since 1953, apparently because Japan and South Korea can’t agree on a name for the sea separating them. Maybe a certain dealmaker can get them to the bargaining table…
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