Korea Strait

Korea Strait
Korean names
	North Korea	South Korea
Hangul
Hanja
Revised Romanization	Joseon Haehyeop	Daehan Haehyeop
McCune-Reischauer	Chosŏn Haehyŏp	Taehan Haehyŏp
Japanese name
Kanji
Hiragana
Hepburn Romanization	Tsushima Kaikyō

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 northwest Pacific Ocean. The strait is split by the Tsushima Island into the Western Channel and the Tsushima Strait.

Geography

To the north, it is bounded by the southeast coast of the Korean peninsula, and to the south by the southwestern Japanese islands of Kyushu and Honshu. It is about 200 km (120 miles) wide and averages about 90 to 100 meters (300 feet) 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 passed 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 Hokkaido 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 3 nautical miles 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

Historically, these narrows served as a highway for high risk voyages. The sea route between Busan, Korea, and the Tsushima Island is about 50 km, as is the route from the island to Iki Island, Japan. These were tremendous distances to attempt in small boats over open seas

Some archeologists believe the first migrations of the Northern Mongoloid traveled across to Japan around the 8th century BC, and 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 latest culture and technologies. Japanese pirates called Wokou also traversed these waters (See article: Gwanggaeto Stele).

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 Naumann elephant, spread into Japan.

Mongolian invasion

See main article: Mongol invasions of Japan

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 though 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 became a base of the Wokou (Japanese pirates). Korean Joseon Dynasty sent a fleet to Tsushima in 1419 for the suppression of Wokou activity. Korea subsequently agrees 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) 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
Japan Hydrographic Association
Ministry of the Environment, Japan
Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department, Japan Coast Guard

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