Characteristics and bottlenecks of sea-rail combined transportation system between South Korea and China

South Korea, an island-like nation divided by the demilitarized zone within the Korean Peninsula, facilitates cargo transportation for Central Asia through a sea-rail combined transportation system (SRTS) between Korea, China, and Russia. This system effectively utilizes the China Railway Express and the trans-Siberian railway. The objectives of this research are three-fold: first, to scrutinize the research of the SRTS by applying text mining technique to the collected papers between 2013–2023; second, to investigate the operational and managerial aspects of the system and the problems encountered in the system from its user’s perspective, i.e., major Korean logistics companies; and lastly, to propose policy recommendations and suggestions to aimed at promoting the SRTS. Extensive interviews and field trips were conducted with prominent logistics companies in Korea, CRE platforms, international inland (dry) ports, and cross-border regions in China to accomplish the objectives. Notably, these interviews and field trips took place before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby examining the pandemic’s impact on the SRTS in both South Korea and China. The key findings of the interviews reveal significant issues such as infrastructure bottlenecks, policy and subsidy challenges, and the need for a unified information-sharing platform.