Korea Strait

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The Korea Strait is a sea passage between South Korea and Japan, connecting the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan (East Sea) in the northwest Pacific Ocean. The strait is split by the Tsushima Island into the western channel and the Tsushima Strait (eastern channel).

Geography

To the north, it is bounded by the southern coast of the Korean peninsula, and to the south by the southwestern Japanese islands of Kyūshū and Honshū. It is about 200 km (120 miles) wide and averages about 90 to 100 meters (300 ft) deep.

Tsushima Island divides the Korea Strait into the western channel and the Tsushima Strait. The western channel is deeper (up to 227 meters) and narrower than the Tsushima Strait.

Currents

A branch of the Kuroshio Current passes through the strait. Its warm branch is sometimes called the Tsushima Current. Originating along the Japanese islands this current passes through the Sea of Japan then divides along either shore of Sakhalin Island, eventually flowing into the northern Pacific Ocean via the strait north of Hokkaidō and into the Sea of Okhotsk north of Sakhalin Island near Vladivostok. The water-mass characteristics vary widely because of the low-salinity waters of the southeast coasts of Korea and China.

Economic significance

Numerous international shipping lanes pass through the strait, including those carrying much of the traffic bound for the ports of southern South Korea. Both South Korea and Japan have restricted their territorial claims in the strait to from shore, so as to permit free passage through it.

Passenger ferries ply numerous routes across the strait. Commercial ferries run from Busan, South Korea to Japanese ports including Fukuoka, Tsushima, Shimonoseki, and Hiroshima. Ferries also connect Tsushima Island with Fukuoka, and South Korea's Jeju Island with the Korean mainland. Ferries connecting Busan and Japanese cities with ports in China also traverse the strait.

Historic impact

Land bridge

See article: Land bridge

During the Pleistocene glacial cycles, the Korea and the Bering Straits, and the Yellow Sea were often dried up and the Japanese islands were connected to the Eurasian Continent through the Korean Peninsula and Sakhalin. At the periods, the Sea of Japan was said to be a frozen inner lake due to the lack of warm Tsushima Current and various plants and large animals, such as the Naumann elephant are believed to have spread into Japan.

Early history

Historically, these narrows served as a highway for high risk voyages. The shortest distance between Busan, South Korea, and the Tsushima Island is about 50 km, as is the shortest distance from Tsushima to Iki Island, Japan.

In the 8th century BC, Buddhism (Mahāyāna Buddhism) was transmitted by Korea's Baekje to the easternmost Japan (See article: East Asian Buddhism) over this strait, long before seagoing ships were available.

Japan's Wa periodically sent, through the Korean strait and the Korean peninsula, year-long Imperial embassies to China to obtain the latest culture and technologies.

Mongolian invasion

See main article: Mongol invasions of Japan

A joint fleet of Mongol, China, and Korea crossed this strait and attempted to invade Japan in 1274 and 1281. The force severely ravaged the Tsushima Island on the way to Japan but failed to defeat Japan. The typhoon (kamikaze, usually translated as "divine wind") is said to have saved Japan from a Mongol invasion fleet led by Kublai Khan in 1281.

Wokou and Oei Invasion

See main article: Wokou and Oei Invasion

After the Mongolian invasion ravaged Tsushima, it became a base of the Wokou (Japanese pirates). The Korean Joseon Dynasty sent a fleet to Tsushima in 1419 for the suppression of Wokou activity. Korea subsequently agreed to grant the Japanese limited trading privileges.

Battle of Tsushima

See main article: Battle of Tsushima

The Battle of Tsushima, fought between the Japanese and Russian navies on May 27 and May 28, 1905, took place in the Tsushima Strait part of the Korea Strait, east of the north part of Tsushima and due north of Iki Island. The Russian fleet was virtually destroyed by the Japanese.

External links

References

For example, a) Low-Frequency Current Observations in the Korea/Tsushima Strait. . W. J. Teague, G. A. Jacobs, H. T. Perkins, J. W. Book, K.-I. Chang, M.-S. Suk Journal of Physical Oceanography 32, 1621–1641 (2001). b) Russo-Japanese War Research Society
Nautical Charts of SE Japan Sea. . Japan Hydrographic Association
List of National and Quasi-national Parks, Japan #48 Iki-Tsushima. . Ministry of the Environment, Japan
The Republic of Korea’s Maritime Boundaries, page 18. .
Designated Area of Japan. . Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department, Japan Coast Guard