1739.The general history of China. Containing a geographical, historical, chronological, political and physical description of the empire of China...

The general history of China. Containing a geographical, historical, chronological, political and physical description of the empire of China, Chinese-Tartary, Corea, and Thibet. Including an exact and particular account of their customs, manners, ceremonies, religion, arts and sciences .. (1739)
http://www.archive.org/details/generalhistoryc03haldgoog

Author: Du Halde, J.-B. (Jean-Baptiste), 1674-1743; Brookes, Richard, fl. 1750. tr
Publisher: London, J. Watts

Text:
East China Sea: the Eastern Sea
Sea of Japan:The Sea of Japan
Yellow Sea: Hoang bai, or yellow Sea
The General History of An Abridgement of the History of Corea. (P394)

(P394)
http://www.archive.org/stream/generalhistoryc03haldgoog#page/n419/mode/1up/search/sea
Corea, which may justily be called the Cberso-nesus of China, since it is contiguous and tributary to it, is a large Peninsula which runs out in the form of a Cape into the Eastern Sea between China and Japan; The Sea of Japan washes it on the East; the Gulph of Leao tong devides it from the Provinces of pe tchbe li and Cbang tong on the West; on the North it borders on the Country of Niu tcbe, on the South it hath the Ocean, and the River Ya lou, which bounding it between the South and North, devides it from Leao tong: Its Extent from East to West is twelve hundred Lys, and fron North to South two thousand and between two and three hundred Lys.

(P420)
http://www.archive.org/stream/generalhistoryc03haldgoog#page/n420/mode/1up/search/sea
Corea is at this time devided into eight Provinces, which have a command over forty Kiun, or grat Cities; thirty three Pou, or Towns of the first Rank; fifty eight Tcbou, or Towns of the second Rank; and seventy Hien, or Towns of the third Rank. The first Province, which is in th heart of the Kingdom, and where the Kung keeps his Court, is call's King ki, or the Province of the Court: The Eastern is call'd Kiang yuen, or the Source of the River, the ancient habitation of the Me; the Western is call'd Hoang bai, or yellow Sea; it takes in Part of the ancient Tcbaosien, and the Country of the ancient Maban: The Northern is call'd Ping ngan, that is the Calm or the Pacifick; it was formerly included in the ncient Kungdom of Tcbaoszen:The Southern is call'd Tcuenlo; it was the habitation of the Pien ban: The South west Province was call'd Tchusin, the Faithful and Pure; it is the ancient Ma-ban: The North east is call'd Kien King, the Happy; it is the ancient Territory of the kaokiuli; Laftly the South east is calledd Kin cban, it is the ancient Country of the Tchin ban.

*Aye, this book published on 1739 , it is earlier than Japan annexed Korea on 1910. So Korean claim which "the name of Sea of Japan established under the colonial rule of Korea", is distorture.