• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.133-156
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• 2009

We have named the sea surrounded by the Korean Peninsula, Primorye of Russia, and Japanese Islands as the East Sea. Historically this region has been variously named the East Sea, Chosun Sea, and, more recently, Japan Sea and Sea of Japan. Since the scientific research papers can play important roles on the naming the sea, the status of naming the East Sea in international scientific journals was investigated. Among 472 papers in 46 international journals that we assessed, Japan Sea (or Sea of Japan) was used in 322 papers (68.2%), East Sea was used in 21 papers (4.4%), and parallel usage of East Sea and Japan Sea accounted for 27.3% (129 papers). In all scientific papers before the early 1980s, East Sea was not used. Since the first parallel usage of East Sea and Japan Sea in 1985, these designations has been increasingly used. After 2004, the parallel usage has replaced the single designation of Japan Sea.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.1380-1394
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• 2015

This paper deals with the geographical scope of the East Sea introduced by major domestic institutions. The East Sea surrounded by South Korea, North Korea, Russia, Japan has a variety of marine resources, and is the very appropriate natural laboratory to study future global changes as a miniature ocean. However, there is a continuous conflict between Korea and Japan over the name of the East Sea because of the nature of international waters. So we need the active research achievements based on the exact geographic knowledge of the East Sea to promote the legitimacy of the East Sea in the international community. Nevertheless each domestic institution has a different way to define the southern border of the East Sea so that it showed a difference about linear distance of up to about 44 km. Also, they have defined the scope of East Sea not as the entire East Sea surrounded by South Korea, North Korea, Russia and Japan but as the jurisdiction of the Republic of Korea. It caused serious confusion about accurate statistical knowledge about East Sea such as area, volume, and mean water depth. Therefore, clear social consensus about the geographical scope of the East Sea would be required, there is also the need to institutionalize a legal order to spread it.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.187-198
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• 2018

The monthly salinity maps from Aquarius satellite covering the entire East Sea were produced to analyze the low-salinity water appearing in fall every year. The low-salinity water in the northern East Sea began to appear in May-June, spreading southward along the coast and eastward north of the subpolar front. Low-salinity water from the East China Sea entered the East Sea through the Korea Strait from July to September and was mixed with low-salinity water from the northern East Sea in the Ulleung Basin. The strength of the low-salinity water from the East China Sea was dependent on the strength of the southerly wind of the East China Sea in July-August. The salinity reaches a minimum in September with a distribution parallel to the latitude of $37.5^{\circ}N$. In October, low salinity water is distributed along the mean current path and subpolar front and the entire East Sea is covered with the low salinity water in November. Water with salinity larger than 34 psu starts to flow into the East Sea through the Korea Strait in December and it expands gradually northward up to the subpolar front in January- February.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.125-151
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• 2018

We grouped the names attributed to the seas surrounding the Korean Peninsula in maps published in two major Korean ocean and fisheries science journals over the period from 1998 to 2017: the Journal of the Korean Society of Oceanography (The Sea) and the Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science (KFAS). The names attributed to these seas in maps of journal paper broadly were classified into three groupings: (1) East Sea and Yellow Sea; (2) East Sea, Yellow Sea, and South Sea; or (3) East Sea, West Sea and South Sea. The name 'East Sea' was dominantly used for the waters between Korea and Japan. In contrast, the water between Korea and China has been mostly labelled as 'Yellow Sea' but sometimes labelled as 'West Sea'. The waters between the south coast of Korea and Kyushu, Japan were labelled as either 'Korea Strait' or 'South Sea'. This analysis on sea names in the maps of 'The Sea' and 'KFAS' reveals that domestic researchers frequently mix geographical and international names when referring to the waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula. These inconsistencies provide the motivation for the development of a basic unifying guideline for naming the seas surrounding the Korean Peninsula. With respect to this, we recommend the use of separate names for the marginal seas between continental landmasses and/or islands versus for the coastal waters surrounding Korea. For the marginal seas, the internationally recognized names are recommended to be used: East Sea; Yellow Sea; Korea Strait; and East China Sea. While for coastal seas, including Korea's territorial sea, the following geographical nomenclature is suggested to differentiate them from the marginal sea names: Coastal Sea off the East Coast of Korea (or the East Korea Coastal Zone), Coastal Sea off the South Coast of Korea (or the South Coastal Zone of Korea), and Coastal Sea off the West Coast of Korea (or the West Korea Coastal Zone). Further, for small or specific study areas, the local region names, district names, the sea names and the undersea feature names can be used on the maps.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.355-369
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• 2015

To examine species composition, abundance and biomass of fishes in the northwestern East Sea of Russian EEZ, trawl survey were conducted at 31 sampling stations from 2006 to 2008. Also, trawl survey were conducted at 21 sampling stations in the southwestern East Sea of Korean EEZ from 2006 to 2008. A total of 67 fishes were collected in the northwestern East Sea of Russian EEZ, a total of 39 fishes were collected in the southwestern East Sea of Korean EEZ. Among them, a total of 53 fishes were collected in the northwestern East Sea of Russian EEZ only, and a total of 25 fishes were collected in the southwestern East Sea of Korean EEZ only. Mean abundance per area which caught by trawl survey in the northwestern East Sea ranged from a high of $116,478inds./km^2$ in 2008 to a low of $19,737inds./km^2$ in 2006. And mean abundance per area in the southwestern East Sea ranged from a high of $89,129inds./km^2$ in 2006 to a low of $8,234inds./km^2$ in 2008. Mean biomass per area which caught by trawl survey in the northwestern East Sea ranged from a high of $11,333kg/km^2$ in 2008 to a low of $2,439kg/km^2$ in 2006. And mean biomass per area in the southwestern East Sea ranged from a high of $6,273kg/km^2$ in 2006 to a low of $1,062 kg/km^2$ in 2008. Cluster analysis, based on a Bray-Curtis similarity matrix of fourth root transformed data of number of species and individuals per area, showed division into three different groups by depth in the northwestern and southwestern East Sea.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.52-61
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• 1998

We studied behaviour pattern of anchovy (Engraulis japonicus) shoal by a method of shoal echo integration and tested species identification by a method of artificial neural network using the acoustic data collected in the East China Sea in March 1994 and in the southern coastal waters of the East Sea of Korea in March 1995. Between areas, frequency distribution of 10 shoal descriptors was different, which showed characteristics of shoal behaviour in size, bathymetric position and acoustic strength. The range and mean of shoal size distribution in length and height was wider and bigger in the southern coastal waters of the East Sea than in the East China Sea. Relative shoal size of China Sea. Fractal dimension of shoal was almost same in both areas. Mean volume reverbration index of shoal was 3 dB higher in the southern coastal waters of the East Sea than in the East China Sea. The depth layer of shoal distribution was related to bottom depth in the southern coastal waters of the East Sea, while it was between near surface and central layer in the East China Sea. Principal component analysis of shoal descriptors showed the correlation between shoal size and acoustic strength which was higher in the southern coastal waters of the East Sea, than in the East China Sea. Correlation was also found among the bathymetric positions of shoal to some degree higher in the southern coastal waters of the East Sea than in the East China Sea. The anchovy shoal of two areas was identified by artificial neural network. The contribution factor index (Cio) of the shoal descriptors between two areas were almost identical feature. The shoal volume reverberation index (Rv) was showed the highest contribution to the species identification, while shoal length and shoal height showed relatively high negative contribution to the species identification.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.714-724
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• 2005

The East Sea, a semi-enclosed marginal sea with shallow straits in the northwest Pacific, is marked by the nearly geographic isolation and the low sea surface salinity during the last glacial maximum (LGM). The East Sea might have the only connection to the open ocean through the Korea Strait with a sill depth of 130 m, allowing the paleo-Tsushima Water to enter the sea during the LGM. The low paleosalinity associated with abnormally light $\delta^{18}O$ values of planktonic foraminifera is interpreted to have resulted from river discharge and precipitation. Nevertheless, two LGM features in the East Sea are disputable. This study attempts to estimate volume transport of the paleo-Tsushima Water via the Korea Strait and further examines its effect on the low sea surface salinity (SSS) during the lowest sea level of the LGM. The East Sea was not completely isolated, but partially linked to the northern East China Sea through the Korea Strait during the LGM. The volume transport of the paleo-Tsushima Water during the LGM is calculated approximately$(0.5\~2.1)\times10^{12}m^3/yr$ on the basis of the selected seismic reflection profiles along with bathymetry and current data. The annual influx of the paleo-Tsushima Water is low, compared to the 100 m-thick surface water volume $(about\;79.75\times10^{12}m^3)$ in the East Sea. The paleo-Tsushima Water influx might have changed the surface water properties within a geologically short time, potentially decreasing sea surface salinity. However, the effect of volume transport on the low sea surface salinity essentially depends on freshwater amounts within the paleo-Tsushima Water and excessive evaporation during the glacial lowstands of sea level. Even though the paleo-Tsushima Water is assumed to have been entirely freshwater at that time period, it would annually reduce only about 1‰ of salinity in the surface water of the East Sea. Thus, the paleo-Tsushima Water influx itself might not be large enough to significantly reduce the paleosalinity of about 100 m-thick surface layer during the LGM. This further suggests contribution of additional river discharges from nearby fluvial systems (e.g. the Amur River) to freshen the surface water.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.12 no.9
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• pp.943-948
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• 2003

Variation of the polar front in the East Sea is studied using temperature and dissolved oxygen data obtained from Japan Meteorological Agency from 1972 to 1999. Variation of the polar front in the East Sea has a close relation to the variation of the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC). When the TWC spreads widely in the East Sea, polar front moves northward. The spatial variation of the polar front is greater in the southwestern area of the East Sea and the northern area of Tsugaru Strait where the variation of the TWC's distribution area is greater than those in others of the East Sea. Hence, in the southeastern area of the East Sea, that is, between near Noto peninsula and Tsugaru Strait, the spatial variation of the polar front is not so wide as in the southwestern area because the flow of TWC is stable.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.255-263
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• 2014

We investigated the reproductive characteristics of Lycodes tanakae in the coastal waters of the middle East Sea to elucidate the species' population structure. We investigated Lycodes tanakae maturation and spawning based on samples collected by Danish seine and gill nets from January 2012 to December 2013. We analyzed monthly changes in maturity stage, gonadosomatic index (GSI), egg diameter, fecundity, and total length at 50% group maturity. The spawning period was December to February, while fecundity ranged from 1,677 eggs at 57.3 cm (total length;TL) to 6,445 eggs at 75.7 cm. The relationship between TL and fecundity (F) was $F_e=6E-05TL^{3.127}$ ($R^2$ = 0.516), and F increased with increasing TL. We estimated the TL at 50% group maturity as 60.4 cm for females and 59.8 cm for males. This study is the first report of Lycodes tanakae reproductive characteristics in the coastal waters of the middle East Sea.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.1021-1032
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• 1997

Satellite-tracked drifters deployed in the East Sea since 1991 are used to study the Tsushima Current (TC). It is found that the TC is a steady current with a mean speed of 10 cm/s before it enters the East Sea. Only during the summer, the TC flows along Honshu Island with a mean speed of $30\~40\;cm/s$ and then exits through the Tsugaru Strait. In fall and winter, the TC does not follow the coast along Honshu Island but it enters into the interior of the East Sea before it reaches the Tsugaru Strait. The water that passes the West Channel of the Korea Strait mostly comes from the western East China Sea and spreads into the interior of the East Sea. It also forms the large eddies in the southern East Sea. The outflow through the Tsugaru Strait comes from the interior of the East Sea in all seasons except summer. The mean speed of the Tsugaru Strait outflow is about 60 cm/s. The largest current variability is found in the eastern central area of the East Sea, south of sub-polar front.