All Issue

2023 Vol.28, Issue 2

Article

The Maritime Geography of Korea Strait: Suggested Nomenclature and Cartographic Boundaries Derived from a Review of Historical and Contemporary Maps

국제학술지, 지도, 문서에 나타난 대한해협 해양지명과 경계에 대한 인식 변화

DO-SEONG BYUN1*
,
BYOUNG-JU CHOI2
변 도성1*
,
최 병주2
1Senior Researcher, Ocean Research Division, Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency, Busan 49111, Korea
2Professor, Department of Oceanography, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea
1국립해양조사원 해양과학조사연구실 해양수산연구관
2전남대학교 해양학과 교수
*Corresponding Author
31 May 2023. pp. 63-93
PDF XML Citation
Abstract

This study aims to examine the history of naming the strait between the Yellow and East China Seas and the East Sea to suggest a consistent nomenclature and to demarcate the geographic region of the strait. Although the strait is internationally known as ‘Korea Strait’, it is commonly referred to as the ‘South Sea’ in Korean common usage. This review ultimately recommends the use of ‘Korea Strait’ as an appropriate geographical name for this area. To support this recommendation, the historical boundaries typically assigned to the Korea Strait were investigated. We also analyzed the evolution of geographical labels assigned to Korea Strait and to the Western and Eastern Channels (labels given to the two maritime areas surrounding Tsushima). Resources for this analysis included historic maps and charts, International Hydrographic Organization Special Publications (S-23), and maps published in the Ocean Science Journal (OSJ) and Journal of Oceanography (JO), which are two international journals representing Korean and Japanese sources, respectively, from 2005 to 2021. In these two international journals, the most frequently used names assigned to the strait of interest were Korea Strait (appearing 42.9% of OSJ maps, and 7.5% of JO maps), and Tsushima Strait (appearing 60.4% of JO maps, and 0% of OSJ maps). Other names were South Sea and Korea Strait/Tsushima Strait. On maps in the two reviewed journals, the boundaries of Korea Strait were defined explicitly or implicitly in five different ways: a broad region between the Yellow and East China Seas and Ulleung Basin (Type 1), the region between Ulleung Basin and Tsushima (Type 2), the western channel of the strait (Type 3-1), the eastern channel of the strait (Type 3-2), and both the western and eastern channels of the strait (Type 4). Overall, Type 1 was the most frequently used boundary, taking up 71.4% of OSJ and 60.4% of JO maps. Lastly, we suggest in this paper that the current flowing through Korea Strait from the East China Sea to the East Sea should be labeled the ‘Korea Strait Warm Current’ to indicate its full path through the strait. Currently, this current is internationally referred to as the ‘Tsushima Warm Current’, which does not link well to the commonly used geographic name of the strait.

Keywords
Korea Strait
Strait of Corea
Josun (Chosǒn or Chosen or Joseon) Strait
Tsushima Strait
Western Channel
Eastern Channel
Korea Warm Current

이 연구는 황·동중국해와 동해 울릉분지 사이에 위치한 수로를 대한해협(Korea Strait)으로 명명한 역사적 사실을 바탕으로 향후 국내 연구자들이 활용할 수 있는 일관된 명명법과 지리적 영역을 제시하였다. 국제적으로 대한해협으로 알려진 이 수역은 일상에서 보통 남해로 불리지만, 역사적 근거에 기초하여 대한해협으로 불리는 것이 바람직하다. 이러한 권장안 사용을 뒷받침하기 위해, 먼저 우리나라 주변해역에 대한 고지도, 고해도, IHO 특별간행물(S-23) 등을 분석하여 과거 대한해협의 공간범위를 정의하였고, 대한해협과 대한해협 내 서수도·동수도 지명들의 변천 과정을 조사하였다. 이를 바탕으로 지난 17년(2005-2021년) 간 Ocean Science Journal (OSJ)과 Journal of Oceanography (JO)에 실린 논문들 중 지도에 Korea Strait 또는 관련 지명(South Sea, Korea/Tsushima Straits, Tsushima Strait)을 표기한 논문들을 분석하여 연구자들의 대한해협 지명 표기와 그 공간적 위치에 대한 인식을 조사하였다. OSJ의 경우에 42.9%가 ‘Korea Strait’를 표기한 반면에 JO의 경우 60.4%가 ‘Tsushima Strait’를 표기하였다. 하지만, OSJ에는 ‘Tsushima Strait’를 단독으로 표기한 논문이 한 편도 없었으나, JO에는 7.5%가 ‘Korea Strait’를 단독으로 표기하였다. 두 국제학술지에서 실린 ‘Korea Strait’ 지명 표기 위치는 크게 5가지 형태로 분류되었다. 즉, 각 논문에서는 대한해협을 광의의 대한해협 영역(Type 1), 울릉분지와 대마도 사이(Type 2), 대한해협 내 서수도(Type 3-1), 대한해협 내 동수도(Type 3-2), 대한해협 내 서·동수도(Type 4)에 표기하고 있었다. 이 중 Type 1이 OSJ의 경우 71.4%를, JO의 경우 60.4%를 차지하여, 광의의 대한해협 영역에 가장 빈번하게 이 해협의 이름을 표기하고 있었다. 끝으로 현재 대한해협을 흐르는 해류의 명칭이 국제적으로 ‘대한난류’가 아닌 ‘대마난류’ 즉 대한해협 지명에서 비롯하지 않은 명칭이라는 사실에 관해 논의하였다.

References
1
Byun, D.-S. and B.-J. Choi, 2018. Nomenclature of the Seas Around the Korean Peninsula Derived From Analyses of Papers in Two Representative Korean Ocean and Fisheries Science Journals: Present Status and Future. J. Korean Soc. Oceanogr., 23(3): 125-151. DOI: 10.7850/jkso.2018.23.3.125.
2
FESJGGK (The Fisheries Experiment Station, The Japanese Government-General of Korea), 1936. Joseon Maritime Handbook 8. 110 pp.
3
Hahn, S.B., 1989. The size and topography of the Korean Strait. Magazine of Hyundai Marine, 229, 120-123.
4
Hahn, S.B., 1993. Study on the Name of the Yellow Sea. Yellow Sea Research, 5: 1-4.
5
Hahn, S.B., 2008. A history of maritime survey on the water around Dokdo by 1970. Proceedings of the Autumn Meeting of the Korean Society of Oceanography November 6-7, 2008, Ansan, Korea, 39-42.
6
Han, C.-H., 2014. The Change of Name for the Korea (Joseon) Strait and Its Implication: An Examination of the Navy Hydrographic Pilots and Charts Published by the Japanese Hydrographic Office. Journal of The Island Culture, 44: 67-90.
7
Han, C.-H., 2015. The Change of the Name for Korea (Joseon) Strait and Its Implication: An Examination of the Japanese Geography Textbooks in Meiji Period. Journal of Korean Independence Movement Studies, 50: 203-242. 10.15799/kimos.2015..50.006
8
Hydrographic Office, Republic of Korea, 1952a. Sailing Direction For the East Coast of Korea No. 1, 367 pp.
9
Hydrographic Office, Republic of Korea, 1952b. Sailing Direction For the South Coast of Korea No. 2. 143 pp.
10
Hydrographic Office, Republic of Korea, 1962. Sailing Direction For the South Coast of Korea No. 2. 143 pp.
11
Hydrographic Office, Republic of Korea, 1976. Sailing Direction For the East Coast of Korea No. 1. 156 pp.
12
Hydrographic Office, Republic of Korea, 1977. Sailing Direction For the South Coast of Korea No. 2. 164 pp.
13
IHB (International Hydrographic Bureau), 1928. Limits of Oceans and Seas, Special Publication No. 23, 1st edition.
14
IHB (International Hydrographic Bureau), 1937. Limits of Oceans and Seas, Special Publication No. 23, 2nd edition.
15
IHB (International Hydrographic Bureau), 1953. Limits of Oceans and Seas, Special Publication No. 23, 3rd edition. https://www.iho.int/iho_pubs/standard/S-23/S-23_Ed3_1953_EN.pdf.
16
IHB (International Hydrographic Bureau), 2002. Limits of Oceans and Seas, Special Publication No. 23, 4th Edition, Final draft. https://www.iho.int/mtg_docs/com_wg/S-23WG/S-23WG_Misc/Draft_2002/ Draft_2002.htm.
17
Jichu, W.H., 2012. Fundamentals of Physical Oceanography. China Ocean Press, 278 pp.
18
KHOA (Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency), 2020. The Guideline for standardization of Marine Geographical Names 3rd edition. 184 pp.
19
Kim, N.-H. and O.-S. Hong, 2018. Captain Broughton's Exploratory Voyage around the North Pacific (1795-1798) and its Significance. Cultural Interaction Studies of Sea Port Cities, 18: 183-204. DOI: 10.35158/cisspc.2018.04.18.183. 10.35158/cisspc.2018.04.18.183
20
Kim, Y.-B. and K. Kim, 2015. Institutional definition instances and necessity of establishment about the geographical scope of the East Sea. Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education, 27(5): 1380-1394. DOI: dx.doi.org/10.13000/JFMSE.2015.27.5.1380. 10.13000/JFMSE.2015.27.5.1380
21
NFRDI (National Fisheries Research And Development Institute), 2001. Oceanographic Handbook of the Neighbouring Seas of Korea (4th Edition), 436 pp.
22
Nishida, K., 1927. On the currents, water temperature and salinity of the adjacent seas of TYǑSEN (CHOSEN or KOREA) in Report of the Oceanographical Investigation 2. Government Fishery Experimental Station in Pusan, v.2, 1-32.
23
Park, K., E.M. Chang and M.B. Shim, 2015. A study on the definition and meaning of Korea Strait. The Journal of the Hydrographic Society of Korea, 4: 11-17.
24
Seo, J.C. and I.H. Kim, 2014. The truth of the East Sea and the Sea of Japan. Gimmyong Publishers, 354 pp.
25
Sung, H.H. and J. Kang, 2013. The Generic Terms and the Standards of a Delimitation for Oceans and Seas based on S-23(Names and Limits of Oceans and Seas). Journal of the Korean Geographical Society, 48(6): 914-928.
26
U.S. ACIC (Aeronautical Chart and Information Center), 1953. 'Chart of limits of seas and oceans' image download, Available at: https://www.loc.gov/item/2010587902/ (last accessed: May 15, 2023)
27
von Siebold, P.F., 1832. Nippon: Archives for the Description of Japan Vol. 1, Leyden, 735 pp.
28
Wikipedia, 2023. Philipp Franz von Siebold, Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philipp_Franz_von_Siebold (last accessed: May 15, 2023).
Information
  • Publisher :The Korean Society of Oceanography
  • Publisher(Ko) :한국해양학회
  • Journal Title :The Sea Journal of the Korean Society of Oceanography
  • Journal Title(Ko) :한국해양학회지 바다
  • Volume : 28
  • No :2
  • Pages :63-93
  • Received Date : 2022-12-22
  • Revised Date : 2023-04-06
  • Accepted Date : 2023-04-25
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.7850/jkso.2023.28.2.063
Journal Informaiton The Sea Journal of the Korean Society of Oceanography The Sea Journal of the Korean Society of Oceanography
  • NRF
  • KOFST
  • KISTI Current Status
  • KISTI Cited-by
  • crosscheck
  • orcid
  • open access
  • ccl
Journal Informaiton Journal Informaiton - close