East Sea of Korea

Sea of Japan
Korean name (North Korea)
Hanja	朝鮮東海
Hangul	조선동해
Revised Romanization	Joseon Donghae
McCune-Reischauer	Chosŏn Tonghae
Korean name (South Korea)
Hanja	東海
Hangul	동해
Revised Romanization	Donghae
McCune-Reischauer	Tonghae
Russian name
Russian	Япо́нское мо́ре
Romanization	Yaponskoye more
Japanese name
Kanji	日本海
Hiragana	にほんかい
Hepburn Romanization	Nihonkai

The East Sea of Korea is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure.

Physical characteristics

The sea is bound by Japanese islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, and Kyushu and the Russian island of Sakhalin to the east, and mainland Korea and Russia to the west.

It is connected to other seas by five shallow straits: the Strait of Tartary between the Asian mainland and Sakhalin; La Perouse Strait between the islands of Sakhalin and Hokkaido; the Tsugaru Strait between the islands of Hokkaido and Honshu; the Kanmon Strait between the islands of Honshu and Kyushu; and the Korea Strait between the Korean Peninsula and the island of Kyushu. The Korea Strait is composed of the Western Channel and the Tsushima Strait, on either side of Tsushima Island.

• Deepest point: 3742 metres below sea level
• Mean depth: 1752 metres
• Surface area: about 978,000 km²

The sea has three major basins: The Yamato Basin in the south east; the Japan Basin in the north; and the Tsushima Basin (Ulleung Basin) in the southwest. The Japan Basin has the deepest areas of the sea, while the Tushima Basin has the shallowest.

On the eastern shores, the continental shelves of the sea are wide, but on the western shores, particularly along the Korean coast, they are narrow, averaging about 30 kilometres wide.

Tsushima Warm Current, a branch of Kuroshio Current, flows northward through the Korea Strait along the Japanese shore, and Liman Cold Current flows southward through Strait of Tartary along the Russian shore.

It was once a landlocked sea when the land bridge of East Asia existed. [1].

Economy

The areas in the north and the south east are rich fishing grounds. The importance of the fishery in the sea is well illustrated by the dispute between South Korea and Japan over Dokdo (Takeshima). The sea is also important for its mineral deposits, particularly magnetite sands. There are also believed to be natural gas and petroleum fields. With the growth of East Asian economies, the Sea of Japan has become an increasingly important commercial waterway.

Naming

Main article: Sea of Japan naming dispute

Although Sea of Japan is the commonly used term to refer to the sea amongst the international community, both North Korea and South Korea have advocated for a different name to be used. South Korea has argued that it should be called the East Sea; North Korea, the East Sea of Korea. However neither of these two names has achieved any formal international recognition.