This article is from the WeChat public account: Earth Knowledge Bureau (diqiuzhishiju) , author: Zhe prices, that day the Soviet Union, from the title figure: Figure worm
At the end of 2019, on the first anniversary of the North Korea ’s September 19 Pyongyang Common Declaration, the South Korean government proposed a North Korea-centered Northeast Asian railway project economic cooperation concept, that is, the restoration of South Korea and North Korea ’s Rail transportation, and connecting the Korean Peninsula railway system with the Northeast China Railway and the Russian Siberian Railway.
In 2018, the leaders of the two sides met at the Peace House (picture from: wikipedia @ Cheongwadae / Blue House)
Last month, South Korean President Moon Jae-yin attended the China-Japan-Korea Business Summit in Chengdu. During the meeting, he again proposed the concept of “Northeast Asian Railway Community” at the summit. The so-called Northeast Asian Railway Community is to follow the European Coal and Steel Community, integrate the existing railway resources of the six Northeast Asian countries, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and Mongolia, and invite the United States to join in to promote the economic development of the countries of the Community including South Korea.
Obviously, the core of this idea is the China-Japan-Korea Economic Community, and the biggest difficulty is North Korea sandwiched between them.
Kim Kang-su, a senior researcher at the Korea Development Institute, said: “The total output value of participating countries reaches 49.8% of global GDP, with a population of 2.11 billion people, accounting for 27.4% of the global population. Cooperation between countries will leap to become the world’s largest economic circle. “
The United States accounts for nearly half of this “community.”
(picture from: wikipedia-List of countries by GDP)
A grand blueprint for integrating East Asian transportation
The Northeast Asian Railway Community plan was not conceived by President Wen Zaiyin for a moment. In fact, China, Japan, and South Korea have all shown interest in this.
During the Second World War, Japan once occupied a large area of the Korean Peninsula, Northeast China and North China, and the East Central South Peninsula. In 1939, Japanese railway official Yumoto Masaka proposed planning for the construction of the “Greater East Asian Railway” to strengthen Japan’s ties with its occupied territories and facilitate Japan’s economic plunder and colonial rule in other Asian countries.
After all, Japan is a maritime country. Even in the recently occupied areas such as North Korea and Northeast China, it is difficult for Japan to actually control the local area and squeeze economic resources without a large-scale land railway network.
The content of this plan is to extend the Tokaido Main Line-Sanyo Main Line to the northwest corner of Kyushu Island in Japan, Fukuoka, Japan’s fifth largest city. Shimonoseki and Fukuoka face the Tsushima Strait across Busan, South Korea, and can be strengthened by air routes or ferries.
The western end of Honshu Island + the northern part of Kyushu Island is equivalent to the connection point between Japan and the Asian continent. However, both the Tsushima Strait and the East China Sea need shipping, and there is a strait between Shimonoseki (the western end of Honshu Island) and Kitakyushu. (Image from: shutter @ Anton Balazh)
After the line arrives in Busan, it will be connected to the original Beijing on the Korean Peninsula. (Seoul) Bus (Busan) line, Jingyi (Sinuiju) line, can be directly connected to Northeast China, and has been Japanese army at that time The tightly controlled Nanman Railway runs through.
In response to the urgent need to quickly consolidate Japan’s vested interests in Asia, this plan was quickly adopted by the Japanese militaristic government.
From the capital of the Japanese Empire to the “capital” of the pseudo-Manchuria
In 1942, Japan ’s Nanman Railroad Corporation formulated a railway network plan from North to Pseudo-Manchuria and South to Singapore, in order to connect the railway network on the Japanese archipelago with Manchuria. The railway line even extends to the distant Java island. At the same time, construction of the Thai-Burma Railway and the undersea tunnel connecting the islands of Honshu and Kyushu in Japan has begun, and the “Great East Asia Railway” appears to have appeared on the horizon of the Japanese militaristic government.
Even from today’s perspective, this is a huge idea. Compared with infrastructure investment, the biggest difficulty lies in international relations.
In addition, between Honshu Island and Kyushu Island (Shimonoseki-Kitakyushu), there is only a very narrow strait separated by technology. At that time, the technology was enough to repair the tunnel. (Image from: google map).
However, Japan ’s rapid defeat on the Pacific battlefield and the end of European battlefields have made it allBubbles, attempts to connect the East Asian Railway have failed. However, the drive to integrate Northeast Asian railways remains.
Compared with land transportation, water transportation has the advantages of large volume and low unit cost, which is one of the reasons for the rise of sea power countries in modern times. However, with the passage of time into the 21st century, the development of rail transportation technology and the economic recovery of traditional land-owning countries have made railway an important factor in measuring and improving the national strength of a country.
Even in an island nation like Japan, which is spread all over the mountains, high-density rapid land transportation has been built, showing the importance of railways and high-speed railways.
(Image from: VTT Studio / Shutterstock.com)
Currently China, Japan, and South Korea are the second, third, and eleventh in the world ’s total GDP. If calculated according to the PPP that better reflects the development index, they are ranked first, fourth, and tenth in the world. Fourth, it can be said that it cannot be underestimated in the world economic structure.
Anyone can see the huge prospect of strengthening economic cooperation in Northeast Asia.
Top ten metropolises in the world by population, China’s Kitakami, Tokyo, Japan, and Seoul, South Korea, what effect would it have if they were connected by rail? ? (Picture from: wikipedia-List of metropolitan areas bypopulation)
But with the bankruptcy of the Northeast Asia Free Trade Area in 2013, the “China-Japan Currency Swap Agreement” was abolished, casting a huge shadow on Northeast Asian economic cooperation. As the researcher Jin Kangzheng said, Northeast Asian countries will become the largest economic circle in the world after establishing a community.
This challenged the economic center of the United States, which was in serious conflict with the US’s “Asia-Pacific rebalancing” strategy at the time. Moreover, the situation in Northeast Asia is complex and profound. The U.S. military had control over the Korean army’s wartime command, the North Korean nuclear issue, Sino-Japanese territorial disputes, and the conflict between Japan and Russia. At the time, there was no good solution.
Historical issues between China and Japan, between North Korea and South Korea, between Japan and Russia, and even between Japan and South Korea, and between East Asian countries plus the United States Intervention makes the Northeast Asia Free Trade Area a difficult goal to achieve
In a nutshell, as long as there are US troops stationed in the territories of Japan and South Korea, there is no possibility that the six Northeast Asian countries will bypass the United States to reach an economic cooperation agreement.
Japanese fishing boat and Yokosuka US military carrier behind it (picture from shutter @ Bill Chizek)
The Vision of the Republic of Korea
Since it ’s so difficult, why did South Korean President Moon Jae-in again present the strategy of the “Northeast Asian Railway Community” at the Chengdu China-Japan-Korea Business Summit?
The reason is that this railway network is too important for South Korea.
Since the end of the Korean War, the country on the Korean Peninsula has been divided into two, and the situation of hostility between the North and the South continues to this day. As a result of the United Nations embargo sanctions on North Korea, South Korea surrounded by sea has become a de facto island, lacking land links with foreign countries.
Is the sea north of Korea? (Of course not) (picture from: shutter @ Anton Balazh)
After the miracle of the Han River in the 1970s, South Korea ’s economy has developed rapidly. Of the top ten companies.
Some of the best-known people have supported half of the country ’s economy (picture from: wikipedia-List of largest companies of South Korea)
South Korea ’s national economy depends on large enterprises, large enterprises rely on foreign trade, and domestic resources are scarceThe domestic demand market is narrow and the strategic depth is insufficient. Such an economic structure is very unstable, and there may even be situations in which its prosperity is booming, and its death is suddenly abrupt. Therefore, once the world economy experiences downward pressure, it will often be reflected in the Korean economy as soon as possible.
South Korea ’s economy is more dependent on Japan than Japan ’s, and has a developed shipbuilding industry like Japan ’s, although all this is under US military protection.
North Korea is a counterexample (picture from shutterstock @ The Mariner 2392)
For example, the rise of international protectionism since Trump took office in 2016 has created a great sense of crisis for South Korea. This sense of crisis has been with South Korea, so successive South Korean governments are seeking a solution. And President Wen Zaiyin’s plan has always been to strengthen cooperation with neighboring countries, keep the markets of China, Japan, and Russia, and promote regional peace and stability. The Northeast Asian Railway Community is an important part of this plan.
Of course, the opinion of the Grand Commander is very important (picture from: wikipedia @ Natig Sharifov)
In addition to this reason, the Northeast Asian Railway Community has another significance for South Korea, which is to promote national unification.
In South Korea, the North-South issue is considered to be closely related to everyone. Koreans often say that their country is the only country in the world that is still divided.
Since we believe that we are still in a state of division, there is still the possibility of unification. This national consciousness is very important.
(picture from: Joshua Davenport / Shutterstock.com)
Previously, South Korea has repeatedly promoted the docking of North-South transportation on the Korean Peninsula, including the 2018 North-South Korean Gyeongui Line docking ceremony. However, the British “Financial Times” immediately warned that the road connection project between North Korea and South Korea is contrary to relevant US policies, and Washington does not allow South Korea and North Korea to undergo rapid economic integration. Trump also rejected Seoul’s proposal to relax unilateral sanctions on North Korea.
For example, the Kaesong area, which serves as a model of friendship and cooperation between North and South, is actually ups and downs, starting and stopping (picture from: shutter @ Torsten Pursche)
In order to prevent the United States from vetoing again, and to show South Korea ’s pro-American stance, Wen Zaiyin ’s proposal for the Northeast Asian Railroad Community, in addition to the six Northeast Asian countries, also invited the United States to join the other side of the ocean.