A year ago Korean presidential hopeful Goh Kun campaigned for a tunnel linking Korea to Japan and now this year Japanese politicians are campaigning for it as well:
Japan and South Korea, long at odds over their wartime history, should be linked by a railway tunnel under the sea symbolising peaceful ties, a group of Japanese lawmakers was reported as saying on Friday.
The cross-party group of parliamentarians is proposing a 128 km (80 miles) tunnel that would be part of a rail link between Karatsu on Japan’s southwestern island of Kyushu and Pusan in South Korea via two Japanese islands, Kyodo news agency said.
The tunnel — which would be more than twice as long as the Channel Tunnel connecting Britain and France — could one day allow passengers to travel by rail from Tokyo to London, Kyodo quoted lawmakers as saying. [Reuters]
I have to agree with R. Elgin that this project would be much more beneficial to Korea than building a canal across the country, plus Korea would have Japan to help jointly finance the project.
However, I have to wonder if such a project is even feasible? The Korea Strait is roughly about 200 kilometers wide between Japan from South Korea which means this tunnel would be a much longer than the tunnel under the English Channel which is 34 kilometers long. Also the waters of the Korea Strait are twice as deep as the waters that separate France and England thus making the construction of the Korea Strait tunnel that much more difficult. Plus is building a tunnel across a major fault line in a earthquake prone area really a great idea?
If such a project is feasible, the construction of such a tunnel should rank as one of the great engineering achievements in world history. Additionally it would be something for the governments of Korea and Japan to work jointly on to help improve relations.
I do have to wonder how long before someone in Korea calls for a tunnel to Dokdo though?
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Also, I don’t like this idea strategically. the peninsula is close enough to the mainland and Japan already.
This will never happen though-politically its not feasible for either country-plus it seems to me JAL, Asiana, ANA, and KAL would do their damndest to kill it.
Ironically, this white elephant, if it ever goes anywhere, would probably suck in more migrant workers, because I doubt either Japan or ROK has the blue-collar resources for the it. And, DaDa, that’s what this about: employment during a recession from a ROK PM promising 747, and a Japanese PM with low ratings and a non-performing economy. It’s nothing serious! Thankfully!
The MPs will first have to persuade Tokyo and Seoul to fund a joint feasibility study. But the notion of connecting the east Asian rivals with a rail link is not as far-fetched as it would have been just a few years ago.
This project is even more pathetic than I thought. This is a honeymoon fantasy, and I hope more realistic thoughts about alliance and DPRK replace it. It’s a nice sign, but a waste of taxpayer dollars. De-regulating the airline industry (http://www.rjkoehler.com/2008/02/16/a-peace-tunnel-instead-of-a-grand-canal/#comment-135414) and opening up SMEs make much more economic sense than these tired bureaucratic stunts. from canal to peace tunnel, I hope the old guard in both countries are just clearing out their deadwood and bad ideas before the real work starts on February 25th.
However, I would not bet any money on seeing this project ever completed.
However, I think a tunnel to Sasebo would be closer than Kadena.