• Maritime Security
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.149-173
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• 2020

While the United States and other Western states are in trouble with COVID-19 crisis, China is continuing its aggressive ocean expansion with its Gray-zone strategy. The Gray-zone strategy, which China uses around the South China Sea, refers to a strategy that promotes a change in international politics by creating an unclear state, neither war or peace. China, which is trying to expand its influence across East Asia, will also try to project a Gray zone strategy on the Korean Peninsula. The possible scenarios are as follows: 1) South Korea is accidentally involved in a dispute in the South China Sea, 2) Military conflicts between South Korea and China is caused by illegal fishing of Chinese boats in Yellow Sea, 3) China tries to interfere with Socotra Rock, 4) Unlikely, but possible in the future that China induce the military conflicts between Korea and Japan on the Dokdo issue. In order to cope with these scenarios, Korea should prepare the following measures from a long-term perspective: the creation of an Asian maritime safety fleet, the integ rated operation of the navy and the coast guard in the framework of the national fleet, and strengthening the conflict control system for China's provocations.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.132-147
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• 1989

A total of 83 surface sediments and 55 sea water samples, collected from the southwestern sea of Cheju Island, were analyzed in order to understand their textural characteristics, geochemical composition and the clay mineralogical features. The sediments were subdivided into ten textural classes, namely clayey sand, slightly gravelly muddy sand, sandy clay, clay and mud. The coarse and fine-grained mixed sediments are distributed in the northern part and around the Island, whereas the fine-grained deposits are mainly distributed in the central and southern parts of the study area; small scale mud patches are distributed in the southwestern and northern parts of Cheju Island. The high concentration of total suspended matter in study area gradually increase toward the southwestern and northwestern offshore area. The concentration of geochemical elements is as follow: the content of Mn, Al, Zn, Cr, Cu and Sn increase toward the southern part which is covered mainly with fine-grained deoposits, whereas the content of Ca, Mg and Ag is higher in the northern area; the elements such as Ni, Na, Fe and Pb are more concentrated relatively in muddy deposits rather than in sandy sediments. The light minerals such as Na-Ca feldspars show a high content around the Socotra Rock, toward the Soheugsan and Cheju Islands, but the K-feldspars are relatively high around the Cheju Island. It was noticed that the provenance of these sediments is partly influenced by the geological characteristics near the island. X-ray diffractogram for clay minerals from the southeastern mud patch and around the Soheugsan Island shows the diagnostic calcite peak indicating that the greater part of these clay fraction may have been derived from present and ancient Hwangho River. The high concentration of smectite in the northern part near the Cheju and around the Soheugsan Islands, eastern side of Socotra Rock probably result from supplies smectite altered from volcanic materials distributed in the Cheju Island and Socotra Rock, whereas the samples near the Chuja and northern parts of the Cheju Island contain weak calcite peak and high concentration of kaolinite and chlorite which is closely related to the geolgical characteristics on the adjacenting land area.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.245-252
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• 2004

The mechanism of cold core eddy formation was investigated using boundary conditions between the East China coastal cold water and the Kuroshio Warm Current, wind data related to the monsoon which was measured by QuikSCAT, and the bottom topography of the East China Sea. When winds blow from the southeast at an intensity comparable to that in the winter period in 1999 and 2003, the warm Kuroshio and Tsushima Current became stronger, and temperatures were considerably higher than those of the extended cold water of the coast of the East China. At that time, the cold water was captured by warm water from the Kuroshio and the Tsushima Current. This facilitated the formation of mesoscale cold core eddies with diameter of 150km in the East China Sea in May, 1999 and February, 2003. The cold core eddy which was detected by NOAA, SeaWiFS and QuikSCAT satellites. The East China Sea is considered to be important not only as a good fishing ground but also nursery and spawning area for many kinds of fishes. Therefore, it would be worth studying spatio-temporal variations of the cold core eddy in the environmental conditions of the northwestern East China Sea using systematic remote sensing techniques.