Korea Strait Live
Every vessel threading the Korea Strait, on one live map. One of East Asia's busiest sea lanes — the gateway between the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan (East Sea), running between the Korean Peninsula at Busan and the Japanese islands, past Tsushima.
Live vessel positions
Open full-screen ↗How busy is the Korea Strait?
The Korea Strait is one of East Asia's busiest sea lanes, the gateway for traffic moving between China, Korea and the Sea of Japan (East Sea) and the North Pacific beyond. Container ships, tankers and bulk carriers move through it constantly, between the East China Sea to the south and the Sea of Japan to the north. The live map above shows every vessel with an active AIS signal, updated each minute.
Why the Korea Strait matters
The Korea Strait separates the Korean Peninsula from the Japanese islands, linking the East China Sea with the Sea of Japan (East Sea). It is the gateway between the seas of northeast Asia and the North Pacific, and one of the busiest sea lanes serving China, Korea and Japan. It is not a canal and not a treaty-regulated waterway — it is an international strait. The island of Tsushima sits in the middle, dividing the passage into the Western Channel, between Korea and Tsushima, and the Eastern (Tsushima) Channel, between Tsushima and Kyushu.
This page exists because that flow deserves a free, public, real-time view — not buried behind a maritime-intelligence subscription. Watch the map. The ships are still moving.
What you're seeing on the map
- Every vessel inside the Korea Strait bounding box, between the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan, with an active AIS signal.
- Vessel type — tanker, bulk, container, cargo, sailing — colour-coded.
- Direction and speed — heading arrows and speed colours show northbound vs southbound transit.
- Live refresh every 60 seconds on the public feed.
For voyage history, sanction status, ownership chain, and cargo inference, sign in to the Strait Up Maritime app.
Geography
The Korea Strait is a broad passage separating the Korean Peninsula from the Japanese islands, connecting the East China Sea to the south with the Sea of Japan (East Sea) to the north. It is roughly 200 km wide overall, with the island of Tsushima splitting it into the Western Channel, between Korea and Tsushima, and the Eastern or Tsushima Channel, between Tsushima and the Japanese island of Kyushu. Unlike the Suez or Panama canals it is not an artificial waterway, and unlike the Turkish Straits it is not governed by a dedicated treaty. Seasonal typhoons and the East Asian monsoon shape conditions across much of the year.
About the data
Vessel positions come from terrestrial and satellite AIS reception, aggregated across multiple providers and de-duplicated. The public live feed is delayed approximately 60 to 180 seconds from broadcast and covers the public Korea Strait bounding box only. Commercial users with a paid plan get unredacted access including vessel detail, voyage history, draught classification, sanctions context, and ownership chain.
The surrounding waters are also monitored more broadly for North Korea (DPRK) sanctions-evasion activity, including ship-to-ship transfers of coal and refined petroleum in the wider region.
AIS data is broadcast openly by vessels under the SOLAS V/19 carriage requirement. We aggregate, refresh, and visualise it — we don't operate the broadcasting infrastructure.
Frequently asked questions
How busy is the Korea Strait?
The Korea Strait is one of East Asia's busiest sea lanes, the gateway for traffic moving between China, Korea and the Sea of Japan (East Sea) and the North Pacific beyond. Container ships, tankers and bulk carriers move through it continuously.
How wide is the Korea Strait?
The Korea Strait is roughly 200 km wide overall, separating the Korean Peninsula from the Japanese islands. The island of Tsushima splits it into the Western Channel, between Korea and Tsushima, and the Eastern (Tsushima) Channel, between Tsushima and Kyushu.
Is the Korea Strait an international waterway?
The Korea Strait is an international strait, not a canal or treaty-regulated waterway. It connects the East China Sea with the Sea of Japan (East Sea), linking the seas of northeast Asia to the North Pacific.
How current is the data on this page?
The live map refreshes every 60 seconds from aggregated AIS reception. End-to-end latency from a vessel's actual broadcast to its dot moving on the map is typically 60 to 180 seconds. The hero counter above updates each time you reload the page.
Is this free to use?
Yes. The live map is free and requires no account. If you need vessel detail, voyage history, sanctions context, ownership chain, or draught/cargo inference, those sit behind a paid plan at Strait Up Maritime.
Other chokepoints we cover
The Korea Strait is one of several maritime chokepoints under continuous observation across Strait Up Maritime. Each has its own live page; the same dataset powers all of them.