Both acid-leached and residual Pb in surface sediments of the Yellow Sea are analyzed in order to explain the spatial distribution of Pb contents and to determine a major controlling factor of its geographical distribution. Leached and residual Pb contents in surface sediments, which may have a different origin, show mirrored geographical distribution. Sediments with high residual Pb ( ${sim}$20 ${mu}$g/g; northeastern sand) contain low leached Pb (6-8 ${mu}$g/g) while sediments with high leached Pb ( ${sim}$20 ${mu}$g/g; central mud) contain low residual Pb. As a result, total Pb shows little variation spatially. The mirrored distribution of both species also leads the grain-size dependence of Pb contents to be unclear although the grain-size dependence of other trace metals (Cr, Co, Ni etc.) has been well reported in this shelf. High leached Pb contents (>15 ${mu}$g/g) were also observed in sediments off the Changjiang River mouth and off the Kyunggi Bay where they can be interpreted as the results of diagenetic accumulation and anthropogenic pollution, respectively. Residual Pb enriched in sands of the northeastern area might be from K-feldspar, which in turn allows the suggestion that northeastern sands may have originated from coastal erosion of granitic landmass or directly from nearby rivers.