The Eurasian railway and Korea-China underwater tunnel

The OSJD Seoul Railway Summit and International Freight Conference will be held in Seoul for three days from Tuesday. The Organization for Cooperation between Railways (OSJD) consists of 28 countries including Russia, China, North Korea, and countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The conference plans to adopt the “Seoul Declaration for the Development of the Railway in Asia (tentative)” which officially sponsors the trans-Korean railway (TKR) connecting South and North Korea. This meeting, which is held in Seoul for the first time, will have a positive impact on South Korea’s joining of the organization in the OSJD ministerial meeting next month.

South Korea has long dreamed of a train leaving Busan and Mokpo to arrive in Europe via North Korea, China, and Russia. If railways in South and North Korea are connected, South Korea will no longer be isolated like an island and exchanges and cooperation between Asia and Europe will become more robust. South Korea’s exports can directly reach Europe via China and Russia, instead of leaving Busan and Incheon and going all the way to Europe via India and Africa.

The only missing link in the Eurasia railway is the TKR. If the TKR is not connected due to the rejection of North Korea, it will be only a pipedream to go from South Korea to Europe via the Trans-Chinese Railway (TCR) and the Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR). North Korea did not block this meeting in Seoul when the meeting was held in Pyongyang in April last year. In April this year, the second Najin-Khasan pilot project – a project that carries Russia’s bituminous coal from Khasan station to North Korea’s Najin Port via railway and further to South Korea’s Dangjin, Gwangyang and Boryeong – was successfully implemented.

The OSJD is a working-level organization that creates standards for continental railways and allocates tracks. For South Korea to connect its railways to continental railways, it needs to coordinate the system and technologies with the member countries. The Eurasian railway will bring political, economic and cultural benefits to all countries related to it. The South Korean government and KORAIL should try hard to create an environment where the member countries can provide support the idea of connecting railways between the two Koreas.

The increased exchanges between South Korea and China and the free trade agreement between South Korea and EU increased the number of people and trade volume crossing the continent. South Korea also needs to consider an underwater tunnel in the West Sea and connecting directly to China with a train-ferry between South Korea and China. It would be more feasible to construct an underwater tunnel connecting 341 kilometers between Incheon and China’s Weihai than to wait for North Korea’s change. South Korea needs to discuss various options to connect to the continent directly such as a Korea-China underwater tunnel along with the Eurasian railway.