A Korea-Japan expert meeting was held at the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry to examine technical issues and propose new optimal plans for constructing the Korea-Japan tunnel.
The Korea-Japan Tunnel Study Group held the ``3rd Korea-Japan Undersea Tunnel Roundtable'' on May 24th in the second-floor conference room of the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, along with the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Busan Global Forum, and the Busan Nurturing Gathering.
This conference was prepared to examine examples of undersea tunnel construction in various countries and examine technical considerations for constructing an undersea tunnel between Korea and Japan.
On this day, the conference was held at the society of Lee Jeong-zul, professor emeritus of civil engineering at Busan University of Economics, and Hoseo University Civil Engineering Airport, and professor Kim Sang-hwan gave a presentation on the subject of ``Technical Study of the Korea-Japan Undersea Tunnel.'' Discussions following the presentations included Yuzo Takeuchi, International Highway Foundation Technical Committee Chairman, Park Kwang-joon, vice-chairman of the Korean Tunnel and Underground Space Society, Lee Kyung-joon, Managing Director of East Asia Geology, Professor Jeong Hong-young of Busan National University, and Choi Ji-kook, former Busan Development Research. The head of the graduate school research department and others participated.
Professor Kim Sang-hwan introduced examples of undersea tunnels that are under construction or in operation around the world, examined existing undersea tunnel route proposals, and proposed the optimal route. There are four types of optimal route proposals proposed by Professor Kim: Route K1+J1, Route K1+J2, Route K2+J1, and Route K2+J2. The shortest route among these is Route K2+J1, which has a total length of 278.4km and connects Gangseo-ku, Tsushima, Iki, and Karatsu. He went on to say, ``There are no technical problems with the Korea-Japan tunnel construction, but more detailed research is needed.''
During the discussion, Technical Committee Chairman Takeuchi said, ``Based on my experience at the Seikan Tunnel construction site, which connects Japan's Honshu and Hokkaido, I can predict that the construction will be quite difficult as most of the work will be done more than 200 meters below sea level.'' ``We need to develop equipment that can drill over long distances of 5 to 10 km,'' he said. ``Currently, there are almost no seabed cross-section maps in Japan,'' said Lee Kyung-joon, managing director of Toa Geological Technology. ``We will thoroughly survey the deep seabed using robots and other tools, and dig test tunnels several kilometers long in specific sea areas. It must be done,” he announced.
Present at the occasion were Seo Wi-taek, Lee Yong-hum, co-chair of the Korea-Japan Tunnel Study Group, Han Seung-wan, chairman of Gyeongsang National University, Lim Hyo-il, head of UPF Geoje Branch, and Kim Yong-gil, National Union for North-South Unification Movement. More than 50 people from all walks of life participated, including Chairman Geoje and Son Dong-hoon, head of the Family Federation of Geoje Church.
The original Korean text is translated into Japanese.
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