President Lee Myung Bak has ordered an economic and technical feasibility study into the prospect of creating the links stretching hundreds of miles. The proposals would join western South Korea with Kyushu, southern Japan, and a second route with China's Shandong Province. It marks the culmination of decades of discussion and speculation dating back almost 100 years. The tunnel from Korea to Kyushu would stretch 80 miles under the sea and connect the island nation of Japan directly to mainland Asia, transforming trade routes, commerce and tourism.