Trace metals were investigated for the surface seawaters and mussels collected in adjacent sea to the Dokdo during 1999-2000. This study reports the temporal and spatial distributions of trace metals in seawaters and mussels of the Dokdo coastal areas. Clean technique for trace metal analyses was employed in all manipulations including the sampling and pretreatment procedures. The concentrations of dissolved Cu, Cd and Pb in the surface seawaters were similar to those of the previous data in the East Sea. Contents of particulate Al, Fe, Mn and Co were influenced by input of detrital materials from the Dokdo. The average EFs of particulate metals were to the order of Cd > Zn > Pb > Cu > Ni > Mn > Co > Fe, and the high values in Cd and Zn may be closely related to the preferential uptake of biogenic particles. With the exception of Cd, all metal contents in the mussels were in the same ranges with those from other world coastal areas. The Cd accumulation factor of mussel/seawater in this study was abnormally much higher than previous data from the Korean coasts.