About a 50-minute drive from Izuhara, Tsushima's central city, Asazo Bay, with its many islands, came into view. Asazo Bay was the area that General Yi Jeong-mu of the Korean army used as a launch point for his campaign against the Japanese army. A narrow, one-lane coastal road was followed by a winding mountain road. After walking about two kilometers up what appeared to be a newly constructed mountain road, the vast ocean spread out before us. "Can you see it? That's Geoje Island, Korea. It's about 60 kilometers away. Once the Japan-Korea Undersea Tunnel is opened, this is where we will cross into Korea," a member of the Japan-Korea Tunnel Research Association explained, realistically and sincerely.
The Japan-Korea Tunnel Research Association held the "Japan-Korea Tunnel Tsushima Japan-Korea Leaders Forum" on the 15th and 16th, where it unveiled the Tsushima survey incline for the Korea-Japan Tunnel in the Are area near Izuhara. After building a 2km access road in 2014, Japan's International Highway Foundation dug an 8m wide, 10m long incline shaft here. This incline will be used to dig down up to 1km into the seabed in the future for geological surveys of the Tsushima West Channel, research on construction methods, and as a pilot tunnel (pilot tunnel) for the Korea-Japan undersea tunnel to be built in the future.
The idea of digging an exploratory tunnel for an undersea tunnel without any agreement, let alone consensus, between South Korea and Japan seems foolish, but it is rapidly becoming a reality. It was even more shocking than the first exploratory tunnel (580m) dug in Karatsu, Kyushu, in 1986. The Tsushima exploratory tunnel seemed like a kind of banner declaring and establishing Tsushima as a stopover point for a South Korea-Japan undersea tunnel and a key point in Northeast Asia.
The Korea-Japan Undersea Tunnel is a project of the century proposed by Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon in 1981. Since the mid-1980s, the International Highway Foundation has steadily purchased land in Kyushu, including Karatsu (200,000 m2), Iki (50,000 m2), and Tsushima (1 million m2), to be used as the base for the undersea tunnel's inclined shaft, with the understanding and cooperation of the local people. Last August, undersea tunnel chapters were formed in all 47 prefectures of Japan. Considering that 300 billion won has been invested to date, this is by no means a reckless private project.
Opposition to the idea remains strong in South Korea. Former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun once expressed their intention to promote it, and former president Lee Myung-bak even ordered a study on it, but the conclusion was negative. The economic benefits were thought to be minimal. Recently, journalist Yoo Shi-min incited controversy by saying, "If an undersea tunnel between Korea and Japan is built, Busan will lose its advantage as the starting and ending point of the Eurasian Railway, and the port of Busan will be destroyed." A petition to ban an undersea tunnel between Korea and Japan was posted on the Blue House's public petition board, and 13,894 people signed it. The unresolved history between Korea and Japan is also a hidden factor. It is also true that the issue of a Japan-Korea tunnel evokes the shadow of militarism, such as the idea of the Seikanron (Conquest of Korea) and the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
But does that mean we shouldn't even research and discuss these issues? Doing so would be like being a frog in a well. There's a reason why the other side acts the way they do. When we recall past times when we responded without knowing the other side, we can't overlook the knowledge. What if our fate depended on it?
The Japan-Korea tunnel is a complex issue that cannot be easily debated, but it is an urgent and important future issue. Each of the following issues is crucial: the world's longest (250 km), the 100 trillion won project cost, the rigorous undersea construction, ensuring safety, and the adjustment of shares between Korea and Japan.
Important international dynamics are at play here. The complex dynamics of Northeast Asia's new economy, new civilization, and new order, as well as the rebuilding of South Korea-Japan relations, are intertwined. China's Belt and Road Initiative and President Moon Jae-in's "Northeast Asian Railway Community" are also intertwined. This means that we must consider not only economic viability, but also international dynamics and a vision for the future.
Even if the economic viability is low now, will it remain so in 10 or 30 years? This is an issue that deserves deep discussion and consideration. What the international community aims for in the 21st century is connectivity, a super link at that. We must study ways to truly defeat Japan. The Korea-Japan Tunnel Research Association, an incorporated association based in Busan, is active, but public interest is weak.
At the end of the Tsushima Forum, Hirofumi Sato, chairman of the International Highway Foundation, made a profound statement: "Businessmen run away when their plans aren't profitable. Politicians withdraw their plans when they face opposition. But we take a long-term view and 'dig deep.'" These words were the title of an article about the Korea-Japan Tunnel in the June 2017 issue of the British magazine Monocle. The phrase "digging deep" kept circling my mind on the flight back to Busan.
Columnist and Story Wrap Representative
Translated from the November 27, 2018 issue of International Newspaper
You can download a PDF of the original article above here.
The Japanese translation PDF can be downloaded here.
