East Asia Railway Community Initiative and Tasks : Focusing on the Connection of the Trans-Korean Railway & Trans-Siberian Railway

Abstract

In his speech marking the 8.15 Liberation Day in 2018, South Korean President Moon Jae-in proposed to create the “East Asia Railway Community” of six East Asian countries and the U.S., which is the initiative to achieve peace and prosperity by pushing for projects on infrastructure investment and economic cooperation with the focus on railway. Once the Trans-Korean Railway (TKR) between the two Koreas is completed, the South Korean government expects to be able to secure a logistics transportation network connecting the Korean Peninsula to the European continent by connecting the TKR to the Trans-China Railway (TCR), Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR), and the Trans-Mongolia Railway (TMGR). When it is connected to the Trans-Eurasia Railway, which is being promoted by the government, it will be connected to the continental railway through the Busan from the Korean Peninsula to the European continent, which means logistics and human exchanges will be in full operation. In this context, this paper explores the way to realize the initiative of the East Asia Railway Community in terms of functionalism and to resume the connection of Northern East Sea Line(Donghae Bukbuseon) that is a disconnected section on South Korean part at the central governmental level, as well as the role and limits of Busan at the local governmental level as a bridgehead of logistics transportation by connecting to the continental railway.