We would like to introduce articles about the Japan-Korea Tunnel Project that have been featured in news organizations and media outlets.
The way forward for the Korean people is cooperation between North and South Korea. The Bering Strait project is a reality, not a dream.
Recently, President Lee Myung-bak's visit to Mongolia and Central Asia, and General Secretary Kim Jong-il's visit to Russia, have been topics of discussion. The fact that the agendas of the North and South Korean leaders coincidentally aligned on energy and securing transportation networks signifies that they possess a significant survival strategy.
From August 17th to 19th, an international conference was held on the theme of "Infrastructure Complex Development in the Northeastern Russian Region of the Sakha Republic," with experts from various countries, including the US, China, and Russia, participating, along with the author, who was the South Korean representative to the Bering Strait Peace Forum supported by the World Peace Tunnel Foundation. The main agenda items of this conference were (1) the connection of railways between Eurasia and the North American continent, and (2) the development of energy resources in the Far East region.
The fact that the agendas raised by the North and South Korean leaders in their respective countries and the theme of the Sakha International Conference were resources and transportation networks indicates that these are of paramount importance to the region. In particular, we, as a peninsula nation, cannot help but be concerned about our future prospects. Furthermore, it is time for the leaders of North and South Korea to seek a common survival strategy that will create a win-win relationship for both sides. At this conference, I witnessed the in-depth discussion and advancement of the Bering Strait Project, and it made me realize that cooperation between North and South Korea is the way to open up a new path for the Korean people.
Firstly, the Bering Strait Project is a business that will make the Korean Peninsula a central region in Northeast Asia. Connecting the Korean Peninsula's railway network to the Trans-Siberian Railway will also give impetus to the long-discussed Korea-Japan undersea tunnel project. If the shortest land route connecting Europe and the Americas is completed, goods from Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia will all converge on the Korean Peninsula. The Korean Peninsula will become the Netherlands of Europe.
Secondly, railways and oil and gas pipelines traversing the Korean Peninsula will strengthen the material foundation for joint prosperity between North and South Korea, ultimately contributing to the creation of an environment conducive to unification. The unification of the Korean Peninsula will be a catalyst for the formation of an East Asian community, shifting the regional order of Northeast Asia from conflict to cooperation.
Thirdly, the Korean Peninsula can become the birthplace of a new civilization connecting the ocean and the continent. It has been the long-held hope of the countries involved that the United States, China, Russia, Japan, and a unified Korea unite to create a new civilization that aims for the common prosperity and improved welfare of humanity.
The 21st century must be a century of hope in which a new civilization will be born, one in which continental and maritime powers merge.
The Bering Strait Project, currently underway, will stimulate the development of Siberia and Alaska, which are treasure troves of resources, and will not only accelerate the era of the global economic renaissance but also contribute to world peace and the construction of a welfare society for humanity. Furthermore, the Bering Strait Project is of international interest regarding the potential for resource development and the use of shipping routes in the Arctic Circle. The Bering Strait Project is moving closer to reality than a dream. The era of continental and maritime fusion, in which the long-cherished wish of the Korean Peninsula will be fulfilled, has begun.
-- (South Korea's "Segye Ilbo," September 2, 2011) [Contribution] John Tae-ik, South Korea's Ambassador to Russia
A plan to dig an underwater tunnel across the Bering Strait, which lies between the Eurasian and North American continents, to connect their respective rail networks has received the green light.
According to the British daily newspaper Daily Mail on August 22 (local time), the Russian government has approved a plan to construct an underwater tunnel across the Bering Strait by 2030.
Alexander Levintal, Deputy Governor of the Russian Far Eastern Federation, revealed this at an international conference on resource development held in Yakutsk, attended by experts from the United States, China, and the United Kingdom.
The Bering Strait, which connects Alaska in the United States and Siberia in Russia, is approximately 80 km wide, and the International Date Line runs between the Russian islands of Ryeongin Big Diomedes and Migklyon Little Diomedes. 21,000 years ago, parts of the region were above water, and there was active human exchange between Asia and North America. The underwater tunnel to be constructed here will be approximately 105 km long, and the construction cost is estimated to reach $100 billion (approximately 107.88 trillion won). For this reason, Russia has decided to first invest $1.5 billion by 2013 to extend the Trans-Siberian Railway to Yakutsk. Once the underwater tunnel is completed, it will be possible to travel from London, England to New York by train in about 15 days. Furthermore, resources that were previously transported across the Pacific Ocean by ship will be able to be moved cheaply and quickly by rail freight. --
(South Korea's Segye Ilbo, August 23, 2011)
