Key Facts about Sea of Japan:

April 3, 2024

North Korea recently fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.

About Sea of Japan:

  • It is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located in Eastern Asia and is bounded by Japan and Sakhalin Island to the east and by Russia and Korea on the Asian mainland to the west. 
    • Dohoku Seamount, an underwater volcano, is its deepest point.
  • The sea itself lies in a deep basin, separated from the East China Sea to the south by the Tsushima and Korea straits and from the Sea of Okhotsk to the north by the La Perouse (or Sōya) and Tatar straits. 
  • To the east, it is also connected to the Inland Sea of Japan by the Kanmon Strait and to the Pacific by the Tsugaru Strait.
  • It influences the climate of Japan because of its relatively warm waters. It serves as the meeting point of the cold currents from the north and the warm currents from the south.
  • There are no large islands in the Sea of Japan. Except for the South Korean Island of Ulleungdo, all the other small islands are situated near the eastern coast of the sea.
  • Major Ports:
    • Russia: Vladivostok, Sovetskaya Gavan, Nakhodka, Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky and Kholmsk.
    • North Korea: Hamhung, Chongjin and Wonsan.
    • Japan: Niigata, Tsuruta and Maizuru.