내륙운하 건설과 지역경제 활성화에 관한 연구

A Study on Inland Canal Building and Revitalizing Regional Economies

The national logistics cost of Korea is very high(2.94% of GDP) compared to those of the advanced countries such as U.S.(8.4%) and Japan(8.15%). The fundamental reason for the high cost is the extremely high dependence on road transportation of national cargo shipping. Truck-transportation comprises 90.4% of all cargo shipment in Korea while the shares are much lower in U.S.(65.9%) and Germany(70%).for the project. Korea needs to diversify cargo transportation modes and reduce the too high dependence on road transportation significantly. Otherwise, the country may experience declining competitiveness of Korean products in the oversea's and domestic markets together due to rising logistics costs. A good alternative is canal construction, especially one connecting Seoul and Busan areas. The line is now experiencing heavy traffic congestion, resulting in high logistic costs. The canal will not only reduce national logistics cost but also revitalize the region along the canal corridor. Inland ports and industrial sites will be constructed along the canal, thus creating local value-added and various jobs in the devastated inland region. In order for Korea to enhance national competitiveness and revitalize regional economies, the canal project should be reviewed seriously and come up with a very efficient and environment friendly transportation mode in the near future.