Spatial and temporal variations of sea surface temperature (SST), abundances of copepods, euphausiids, amphipods, and chaetognaths were investigated in the western waters of the Korean Peninsula. Zooplankton and SST were monitored at 63 stations arrayed in six transects ($124^{circ}00^{prime}-126^{circ}30^{prime}E$, $34^{circ}00^{prime}-37^{circ}00^{prime}N$) in February, April, June, August, October, and December during 1978-2010. In general, SST increased $0.7-3.8^{circ}C$ during the last three decades with spatio-temporal variations. SST was lowest in February and highest in August. SST was highest in the northernmost transect and declined gradually along transects to the south. The general pattern of interannual variations of SST was similar to the global pattern, which has been increasing. Trends of abundances of all zooplankton groups slightly increased interannually and peaked seasonally in June and August, except chaetognaths, which fluctuated around the long-term mean value with a seasonal peak in August and October. Abundances of zooplankton groups were highest in the northernmost transect while those of euphausiids were highest in the southern transect. We discuss the distribution patterns of SST and zooplankton groups in relation to oceanographic characteristics in the study area.