We would like to introduce articles about the Japan-Korea Tunnel Project that have been featured in news organizations and media outlets.
The Korea-Japan Tunnel Research Association (Co-chairs: So Eui-taek and Lee Yong-heum) held its 2013 annual general meeting on the afternoon of January 22nd at the Orchid Room of the Ibis Ambassador Hotel in Busanjin-gu. The meeting was attended by over 100 members and individuals from various fields. A special lecture was held prior to the meeting, followed by greetings from the co-chairs, introductions of new members, congratulatory speeches, a report on the association's activities, and other discussions. In his opening remarks,
Co-chair Soui-taek (Senior Professor at Busan National University) said, "In 1991, when the Geoje Master Plan was created at the request of Geoje County, I personally laid the Geoga Bridge, but it took 20 years for it to be completed." He emphasized, "Our role now is to sow the seeds for the success of the Korea-Japan Tunnel. The fruition will be for our descendants, so let's work hard with a sense of mission and not think too quickly." In a special lecture titled "The Road to Becoming a Developed Nation," Kwon Tae-shin, vice chairman of the National Competitiveness Enhancement Committee, said, "Rome, once the world's center, was able to dominate the world for a long period of time despite not being the largest in Europe in terms of land area, number of intellectuals, or physical size. This was possible because its spirit of 'openness and tolerance' overwhelmed neighboring countries." He emphasized, "The Korea-Japan Undersea Tunnel, which would unite Northeast Asia and connect it to Europe by rail, will prevent North Korean provocations and ensure peace on the Korean Peninsula. It is a necessary project to make Korea the world's logistics center in 100 or 200 years." The
Korea-Japan Tunnel Study Group was founded in 2008 and has over 280 members. The group has raised awareness of the need for the Korea-Japan Tunnel construction both domestically and internationally through activities such as academic seminars, special lectures, a Korea-Japan Tunnel Promotion Conference, Korea-Japan exchanges, field surveys, and newsletter publication. Over the past year, the group has held a number of events, including the Busan Metropolitan City Conference to Promote the Korea-Japan Tunnel. A visit to the Tsushima site of the Korea-Japan Undersea Tunnel? Activities include publishing a newsletter, and this year the group plans to hold events such as a seminar on the "North-South Transverse Railway and Korea-Japan Tunnel" and a "Silk Road Field Survey." Regarding future activities, co-chair Lee Young-heum said, "The Korea-Japan Undersea Tunnel construction project is a national issue, but it is unfortunate that discussions are progressing so slowly due to a lack of understanding regarding the expansion of logistics hubs," and stressed, "The Korea-Japan Tunnel Study Group, a purely private organization, would like to play the role of laying the groundwork by continuing to carry out activities based on the research it has conducted so far."
- (Korea's Segye Ilbo, January 24, 2013)
The Bering Strait Project, promoted by the World Peace Tunnel Foundation, was featured for the first time at the Milan Triennale, a global design and art exhibition in Italy, drawing attention. The Bering Strait Project, which involves digging an undersea tunnel through the Bering Strait to connect Eurasia and North America by land, was proposed by Reverend Sun Myung Moon in 1981 and has been promoted in various ways through the World Peace Tunnel Foundation. It was also announced on the 25th that the foundation's vice president, Lee Young-heum (chairman of Ilshin Design Office), and Future Forest representative Kwon Byung-hyun (former ambassador to China), the only Koreans invited to give presentations at an international academic
conference related to the event. The Milan Triennale, an international art exhibition established in 1923 and held every three years at the Triennale Museum, opened on October 8 last year and will run for three months until February 10, 2013, with the theme "World Architecture - Infrastructure, Mobility, New Landscapes." This year, the exhibition was divided into three sections, each focused on the changes and expansion of global infrastructure such as roads, railways, and airports. The Bering Strait Project was included in the "International Megaprojects" section, where works submitted to the UIA International Idea Design Competition, previously hosted by the World Peace Tunnel Foundation, and the promotional video for the project, "The Road to Peace and Prosperity," were exhibited. As part of the exhibition, an international academic conference was held on the 15th, hosted by IUAV University, the National University of Architecture in Venice. The Vice-Chairman, the only Korean invited, gave a presentation on the theme of "The Bering Strait and Korea-Japan Tunnel Project as a Global Peace Highway Transportation Network," while CEO Kwon gave a presentation on the theme of "China's Desertification Prevention Measures - Focusing on the Green Great Wall Project."
-- (Korea's "Segae Ilbo," January 25, 2013)
On November 18, the Korea Construction Industry Institute (KCII) released its "2020 Korean Construction Industry Key Issues and Trends Forecast" report, listing "green infrastructure construction," "zero-emission cities," and "China-Korea and Japan-Korea tunnels" as construction projects expected to have a significant impact on Korea. This was reported by multiple Korean media outlets. In August, the institute asked 155 construction-related professionals, including construction companies, design and engineering firms, universities, and research institutes, to evaluate 12 construction projects. Projects expected to have a significant impact on Korea were evaluated based on factors such as technological development in the construction industry, improvement of the public's quality of life, and
contribution to internationalization and overseas exports. As a result, "green infrastructure construction" received high scores in all categories. The China-Korea and Japan-Korea tunnels were also expected to have a significant impact on the development of construction technology and overseas market development. According to the institute, full-scale construction of the Japan-Korea tunnel connecting Japan and Korea is likely to begin around 2020. While economic issues remain a major challenge for the Japan-Korea tunnel, the report predicts these can be resolved through large-scale urban planning at the tunnel's entrances. The project is estimated to cost 110-120 trillion won (approximately 7-8 trillion yen) and take 10-15 years to complete. Lee Bok-nam, a research fellow at the institute, said, "By 2020, the number of Chinese and Japanese tourists visiting Korea will far exceed 10 million annually." He also noted the need for an undersea tunnel, saying, "It will be difficult to support tourism and logistics with airplanes and ships alone
." The report cited "global economic changes" and "green growth, including changes in the global environment," as key factors driving changes in the construction industry in 2020. Over 60% of respondents considered the potential for growth in the domestic construction market to be "low," while 70% considered the potential for growth in the overseas construction market to be "high."
(Searchina, November 24, 2011)
