The Korea Strait is a major navigation passage linking the Japan Sea to the East China Sea and Yellow Sea. This paper establishes a theoretical model for the tides in the Korea Strait and Japan Sea using the extended Taylor method. The model solution explains the formation mechanism of the tidal amphidromic systems in the Korea Strait, and why the K₁ amphidromic point is located farther away from the shelf break separating the Korea Strait and Japan Sea in comparison to the M₂ amphidromic point.

Taylor's problem is a classical tidal dynamic problem and in its previous applications all of the studied basins had a closed end. In this study, the Taylor's method is extended so that it can also provide an analytical model for the M₂ tide in the Taiwan Strait (TS), which shows that the reflection of the southward wave at the abruptly deepened topography south of the TS is a major contribution to the formation of the northward propagating wave in the strait.