Integrated International Intermodal Transport of Russia’s Far East, Siberia and Korean Peninsula

Abstract

The South Korean government has recently announced the ‘Eurasia Initiative,’ and proposed three concepts, ‘one continent,’ ‘creative continent,’ and ‘peaceful continent,’ to construct a new Eurasia. In particular, connecting the South and North Korean railway and Eurasia railway can be an extremely important strategy to strengthen economic and social connection between Northeast Asia and Eurasia. This chapter seeks to analyse the development strategies and impediments to constructing an integrated infrastructure network in the Russian Far East and Korean Peninsula. To achieve the vision of the Eurasia Initiative, it is extremely important to advance the special development of the Korean peninsula under the concept of ‘open territory,’ as opposed to a ‘closed territory, exclusive territory.’ Under the concept of ‘open territory,’ addressing intermodal transport network development issues in Northeast Asia is crucial to establishing an integrated and open region. The intermodal logistics environment around Russia’s Far East and the Korean Peninsula is changing rapidly and increasing in potential, and one of the most important projects is to modernise the Trans Korean Railway and Trans-Siberian Railway.