On August 8th, 39 people, including bureau chiefs and reporters from TV and newspaper media companies across South Korea, visited the site of the Japan-Korea Tunnel Karatsu Investigation Incline Shaft. In response to growing interest in the tunnel, mainly in Busan, a group in South Korea promoting the Japan-Korea Tunnel requested that our foundation be allowed to inspect the site, and this was the first time that such a large group of media representatives had jointly inspected the site.
After listening to a welcome speech from Hirofumi Sato, the chairman of our foundation, and the history of the Japan-Korea Tunnel in Japan, we split into two groups and immediately toured the site, visiting three locations: the tip of the approximately 600m work tunnel, the 1,400m winch that moves the trolley that transports the excavated soil, and the observation deck overlooking Iki Island and the Genkai Sea.
While listening to each of the explanations, there were times when participants expressed their own opinions, such as "The Japan-Korea tunnel concept that I have heard so far seems too biased towards Japan and the US to the pro-China people in Korea," and "Japan will be the only one to benefit from the Japan-Korea tunnel, and Busan Port will suffer losses," but they also appeared serious and intent on calmly observing the site. Many specific questions were also asked, such as "Instead of digging a tunnel with excavation machinery, why not use a construction method called an immersed tunnel?", showing the depth of interest.
The group then traveled to Tokyo, where they participated in a roundtable discussion with Diet members at the House of Representatives Members' Building, where the vice chairman of the Japan-Korea Tunnel Technical Committee of our foundation gave a more detailed explanation of the Japan-Korea Tunnel from a technical perspective. We hope that by having even more direct contact with Japan in the future, a progressive tone towards Japan-Korea friendship will emerge from the media, helping to make Japan and Korea truly "close, close countries."
[Photo] Group commemorative photo in front of the mine entrance
[Photo] Explanation in front of the winch (Hirofumi Sato, Chairman of the International Highway Foundation)
[Photo] Explanation at the face at the end of the tunnel entrance (Yoshitaka Okubo, Karatsu site manager)
[Photo] Explanation at the observation deck
