This study determined the heavy metal contents in fish from the Korean coast of the East Sea (Donghae). The sample were divided into three parts (meat, liver, skin) and digested with acids. Then, contents of lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The heavy metal contents in different parts of the fish were as follows: lead of 0.019-0.346 mg/kg (meat), 0.461-0.516 mg/kg (liver), 0.018-0.855 mg/kg (skin); cadmium of ${leq}0.049;mg/kg$ (meat), ${leq}1.224;mg/kg$ (liver), ${leq}0.019;mg/kg$ (skin); mercury of $1.018-2.751;{mu}g/kg$ (meat), $3.057-7.023;{mu}g/kg$ (liver), $1.068-3.940;{mu}g/kg$ (skin); arsenic of $0.938-25.935;{mu}g/kg$ (meat), ${leq}21.082;{mu}g/kg$ (liver), ${leq}3.708;{mu}g/kg$ (skin). Contents of heavy metals in the liver and skin from some fish exceeded the maximum CODEX guideline levels, although the contents in meat from all of the fish tested were much lower than the CODEX levels.