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Why is Russia opening a ferry service between Vladivostok and Rajin, North Korea if the two countries share a land border and have a railroad connecting the two, wouldn't it be faster and simpler to transport people and goods by train, and if vehicles need to be transported than couldn't they build a road? Is this just Russia trying to prop up North Koreas shipping industry?
Using a ferry (today) would be faster than building the railroads/stations/network (4-5 years at least).
Why is Russia opening a ferry service between Vladivostok and Rajin, North Korea if the two countries share a land border and have a railroad connecting the two, wouldn't it be faster and simpler to transport people and goods by train, and if vehicles need to be transported than couldn't they build a road? Is this just Russia trying to prop up North Koreas shipping industry?
Does North Korea have any rail service that leaves the country? I know there is a rail between China and N Korea, but I wasn't sure if it's only used for official purposes. I've just never heard of any scheduled train service from North Korea to anywhere.
Does North Korea have any rail service that leaves the country? I know there is a rail between China and N Korea, but I wasn't sure if it's only used for official purposes. I've just never heard of any scheduled train service from North Korea to anywhere.
If you look on google maps there is a railroad bridge that crosses over the North Korean/Russian border.
If you look on google maps there is a railroad bridge that crosses over the North Korean/Russian border.
Interesting, maybe for border control reasons they don't use it, I'm not sure.
I never knew Vladivostok had casinos. Looks like there are currently 7 casinos there. I also didn't realize S Korea had casinos in Busan, but it's not much, 3 casinos and they are all small.
It's not somewhere I would be interested in going to, but I could see them getting some northern Chinese tourism and maybe some Koreans. I would choose Macau over Vladivostok any day.
It looks like they have some ski resorts in the area as well and the city has a pretty location with the bay and mountains in the background. It could be a really neat city someday.
Interesting, maybe for border control reasons they don't use it, I'm not sure.
I never knew Vladivostok had casinos. Looks like there are currently 7 casinos there. I also didn't realize S Korea had casinos in Busan, but it's not much, 3 casinos and they are all small.
It's not somewhere I would be interested in going to, but I could see them getting some northern Chinese tourism and maybe some Koreans. I would choose Macau over Vladivostok any day.
It looks like they have some ski resorts in the area as well and the city has a pretty location with the bay and mountains in the background. It could be a really neat city someday.
They already get quite a bit of Chinese tourism. There are Chinese tour companies that sell the destination as a return to China's historic city/region.
I find it a bit odd how Russia goes about doing economic development around the country. It seems that Moscow decides everything, still; Moscow wants Vladivostok to be a big tourism center, so *poof* money appears to invest in that. It decides Ulan Ude, Buryatia, should be a huge economic hub, so *poof* money appears out of nowhere, and things start happening, apartment complexes are designed for tens of thousands of workers to move into the region, industrial centers are planned, etc.
This isn't how it works in most countries. Usually the regions come up with their own plans, or businesses choose to locate in a city, for a variety of reasons. Moscow is still functioning by a colonial model. It's not always a good thing; sometimes there are hidden agendas.
They already get quite a bit of Chinese tourism. There are Chinese tour companies that sell the destination as a return to China's historic city/region.
I find it a bit odd how Russia goes about doing economic development around the country. It seems that Moscow decides everything, still; Moscow wants Vladivostok to be a big tourism center, so *poof* money appears to invest in that. It decides Ulan Ude, Buryatia, should be a huge economic hub, so *poof* money appears out of nowhere, and things start happening, apartment complexes are designed for tens of thousands of workers to move into the region, industrial centers are planned, etc.
This isn't how it works in most countries. Usually the regions come up with their own plans, or businesses choose to locate in a city, for a variety of reasons. Moscow is still functioning by a colonial model. It's not always a good thing; sometimes there are hidden agendas.
I can't comment on how much tourism they get, but the Venetian in Macau is bigger then 6 of the 7 casinos in Vladivostok combined.
Russia is very strange. The eastern part of Russia is insanely poor. More poor then across the border in China. The government of Russia is far too centralized.
There had been a "Tumen River Development" Project under UN auspice back in 1990s that aimed to develop the triangular area centering around Hunchun, Vladivostok and Rajin. But after all these years the project did not materialize due to the attitude of Pyongyang.
In the 11-miles border shared by Russia and North Korea, there is a rail bridge over Tumen River. There is a NHK documentary that dwells on this area which shows a train running on this bridge. Lately when China was getting tough with North Korea, news reported that Russia tried to replace China's role as the lifeline of North Korea and the railway became busy again. In the documentary, there is even a bird's view which showed all three countries' shared border.
Surprisingly Vladivostok is not a warm water port. Its harbor freezes part of the year. But it is at latitude 43 degree North. It is a southern city compared with Portland (45 degree N) or Seattle (47 degree N) and Vancouver (49 degree N) All these are warm-water ports.
No wonder Russia was still not satisfied after acquiring the port city in 1858 and still planned to grab the genuine warm water port of Dalian which ended in the defeat of Russo-Japanese War in 1904.
Surprisingly Vladivostok is not a warm water port. Its harbor freezes part of the year. But it is at latitude 43 degree North. It is a southern city compared with Portland (45 degree N) or Seattle (47 degree N) and Vancouver (49 degree N) All these are warm-water ports.
No wonder Russia was still not satisfied after acquiring the port city in 1858 and still planned to grab the genuine warm water port of Dalian which ended in the defeat of Russo-Japanese War in 1904.
Nakhodka (lucky find), just to the east of Vladivostok is an ice free port though.
Surprisingly Vladivostok is not a warm water port. Its harbor freezes part of the year.
It's brutal cold. I visited the first week of September, and it already had that encroaching winter feel.
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