II. Literature Review
A majority of studies on Korea–Europe transport routes focused on the
Trans-Asian Railway routes connected with TKR, the Suez Canal route,
and the Arctic route. Entering into the year 2000, studies on railway
transport actively were made to analyze the effectiveness of transporting
via the TKR as the TKR project progressed and drew public attention.
Recently, the Government’s support for the Eurasia railway project raised
the possibility of the realization of the TKR.
Lee and Kim (2007) and Kim and Jung (2005)studied the Trans-Asian
Railway connected with TKR and proposed plans for developing the
Trans-Asian Railway transportation. Lee et al. (2011) and Han (2011)
analyzed the economic feasibility for using the Arctic sea route. Choi et al.
(2012) and Lee et al. (2013) analyzed competitiveness of the railway
transport interconnecting the TKR and the TSR, and the sea transport
using the Suez Canal and the Arctic route.
Recently, with the hope of the commercial voyage through Arctic sea,
studies on feasibilities and economic aspects of Arctic route have been
performed. Verny and Grigentin (2009) compared 5 routes(Suez, Arctic,
TSR, Sea & Air, Air) based on the container transport cost per TEU
between Hamburg and Shanghai and showed the Arctic would be a
competitive alternative to Suez. Liu and Kronbak (2010) compared Arctic
with Suez considering economic factors (icebreaker fee, shipping season,
bunker oil) and the competitiveness of Arctic over Suez between
Rotterdam and Yokohama was performed with sensitive analysis by
changing the factors; For further reference, see Han (2011).Otsuka et al.
(2013) performed feasibility study with 3 cargo types and showed Arctic
route is cheaper way to save cost.
The below shows a summary of studies that analyzed
competitiveness and economic advantage for the Korea–Europe transport
routes considering various factors and methodologies.