South Korea: “Silk Road Express”

In October 2013, the then South Korean President Park Geun-hye proposed building a “Silk Road Express” to connect railways in South Korea, North Korea, Russia, China, Central Asia and Europe, and create an energy network of power grids and gas and oil pipelines in Eurasia. This is a core element of South Korea’s “Eurasia Initiative,” which intends to integrate rail, roads, ports and aviation into a unified system of logistics solutions.

时任韩国总统朴槿惠于2013年10月提出了名为“丝绸之路快速铁路”的事业构想，旨在构建连接韩国、朝鲜、俄罗斯、中国、中亚、欧洲的丝绸之路快速铁路，并在欧亚地区构建电力、天然气和输油管线等能源网络。“丝绸之路快速铁路”是韩国“欧亚倡议”的核心内容之一，它以铁路为中心，通过铁路、道路、港口及航空构筑起一体化的物流运输交通体系。

The “Silk Road Express” project has, however, been put on the back burner due to the troubled relationship between the two neighbors on the Korean peninsula, and the difficulties in implementing the Eurasia Initiative. Meanwhile, the government and businesses of South Korea, a close neighbor of China, are showing growing interest in China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

韩国的“丝绸之路快速铁路”计划因朝韩关系停滞、“欧亚倡议”落地困难等原因踟躇不前。作为中国的近邻，韩国政府和企业对“一带一路”建设的关注正在逐步增加。