Jeju Undersea Tunnel

The Jeju Undersea Tunnel is a proposed undersea tunnel project to connect the South Korean provinces of South Jeolla and Jeju across the Jeju Strait, with intermediate stops at the islands of Bogildo and Chujado. The proposed 73 km tunnel is scheduled to take 11 years to complete, and is budgeted at 14.6 trillion South Korean won (11.2 billion US Dollars).

The government of South Jeolla Province has resumed the review of a plan to build an underwater tunnel for the KTX bullet train between the port city of Mokpo and Jeju island. On June 19 2013, the provincial government requested the central government include KRW 10bn as part of the 2014 fiscal year budget to study and plan for the proposed Mokpo-Jeju underwater tunnel. An international symposium on the project is planned to be held by next year. The total length of the proposed high-speed railway is 167km, including a 66km surface interval from Mokpo to Haenam, a 28km bridge section from Haenam to Bogil Island, and a 73km stretch from Bogil Island to Chuja Island and Jeju Island.

The provincial government predicts that by the time the project reaches completion, as many as 15 million passengers will take advantage of the service in a year, with an annual savings of KRW 42tn in social cost and 140,000 newly created jobs.

The idea of connecting the southwestern port city with Korea's largest island in the south was first broached in 2007 by the governors of South Jeolla and Jeju provinces.

The project entails building three separate lines ― 66 kilometers, from Mokpo to Haenam; 28 kilometers, from Haenam to Bogil Island; and 73 kilometers, Bogil Island through Chuja Island to Jeju. The last line would be linked by a high-speed train through an undersea tunnel. When connected with other major railway lines across the Honam region and the rest of the country, major inland cities and Jeju will be connected by train for the first time.

The project is expected to catalyze new growth in two of the most underdeveloped regions in the country, located in the southwestern part of the Korean Peninsula. The undersea railway is set to be operated in conjunction with the Seoul-Mokpo express train project currently underway.

Associated difficulties

Political

Residents of Jeju have raised concerns that construction of the tunnel may impact the island's indigenous culture.

The proposal was shelved because of the high cost and technological challenge of building the world's longest underwater tunnel.

See also

• Korea Train Express (KTX Bullet Trains)
• Honam Line
• Honam High Speed Railway
• Tunnel boring machine
• Undersea tunnel
• Japan–Korea Undersea Tunnel