On July 15th, the entrance to the Aren Shaft in Tsushima was completed. A dome-shaped tunnel with a diameter of 7 meters has been revealed, marking the first step in a tunnel that will cross the 66-km Tsushima West Channel (Korean Strait) to Geoje Island in South Korea. All construction work began with the installation of this tunnel entrance, marking a historic step, as if ``a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.''
Construction began with precision surveying on May 4th and was completed in approximately 70 days. This tunnel is an exploratory inclined shaft that runs up to 1.3 km at a steep angle of 1/4 slope, and was used as an auxiliary tunnel for the main tunnel excavation, for the purpose of transporting materials and draining water.
The diameter of the tunnel is 6 m, but the tunnel entrance is 1 m larger, making it 7 m. The length (depth) is 10 meters, but construction work to extend the tunnel will continue in the future. A winch is being installed on the hill opposite the mine entrance to prepare the construction environment, including a power source and a water tank.
Since the Japan-Korea Tunnel is an international project, it will naturally be done with the agreement of the Japanese and South Korean governments. The efforts are now being carried out in parallel.
Furthermore, considering that after landing in South Korea, it will become an international highway and extend through North Korea to China and Beijing, it is a grand project that should also be taken into consideration in terms of its relationship with North Korea and China. After the Cold War, religious and ethnic conflicts have surfaced around the world, and there are not many ideas for creating peace.
There is no doubt that the Japan-Korea tunnel will bring peace to Northeast Asia and become a concrete plan to realize the dream of peace in the world. Once people learn how to make peace, they will stop going to war. Dear Japanese and Korean people, let's join together in the construction work to make the Japan-Korea Tunnel a reality.
Genba Newsletter August 2014 issue (PDF viewing/download)
