Mr Jim Rogers
Jim Rogers, a global US investor who participated in a meeting on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and Japan-South Korea relations held in Seoul, South Korea, said that if the North Korean nuclear issue is resolved and the Japan-South Korea tunnel is built, the He said that the economic benefits of the project would be immeasurable, and appealed for the promotion of the Japan-Korea tunnel concept.
In an interview with The Washington Times, Mr. Rogers acknowledged that there are serious physical and political obstacles to tunnel construction, and that the Japan-Korea Tunnel would pave the way for an overland transportation route from Japan to Europe. "I want you to imagine a railroad and a road connecting North Korea, through Russia, to Paris and Rome," he said optimistically about the concept.
During a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, US President Donald Trump stressed that North Korea had "great" economic development potential if it gave up its nuclear weapons.
Like Trump, he said the economic potential of the Korean peninsula would be enormous if it were denuclearized and "the 38th parallel problem is gone." Currently, it takes about 50 days by sea from Japan to Europe, but he said, "If you put the goods on a train in Japan, they can be delivered to Berlin in about three weeks," and said that the transportation time could be greatly shortened.
He also pointed out that "everyone wants to get rid of the 38th parallel. China, Russia, North Korea, and South Korea are all like that." We have started removing landmines and observation posts that have been installed in the DMZ over the years," he said, emphasizing that there are hopeful signs.
The United States is not the only country that is eyeing the economic potential of the Korean Peninsula and the effects of the Japan-Korea Tunnel.
Mr. Rogers clarified that Russia is paying attention to the Japan-Korea tunnel, saying, "A major Russian transportation company is trying to sell this concept in Japan." In recent years, he said, Putin has considered "rebuilding the Trans-Siberian Railway" and connecting it to the North Korean border.
Diplomatic sources told The Washington Times that the idea of transporting Russian natural gas to East Asia via a pipeline through North Korea is also being discussed.
Of the estimated $100 billion construction cost, Rogers said, "Russia, South Korea and Japan will all benefit. All three have the capital. It is possible to finance such a large-scale infrastructure initiative." He expressed his hopes for Japan, South Korea, and Russia.
The Japan-Korea tunnel is also useful in countering China's "One Belt, One Road" economic zone initiative.
“We will not only compete with the Belt and Road Initiative, but we will also compete with it,” Rogers said. (Washington Times Special Contract)
This article is a Japanese translation of a Washington Times article dated May 21, 2019. Tunnel
vision: Financial guru bullish on massive project stifled by North Korea's nuclear crisis
A PDF of the above article can be downloaded here.
