S. Korea to host world's largest Universal Studios resort

SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Yonhap) -- A Universal Studios resort to be built in South Korea
by a U.S. amusement park operator will be the world's largest such facility, a
local government official involved in the project said Monday.
Universal Parks & Resorts (UPR), in conjunction with South Korea's Gyeonggi
Province, plans to build a 2.9 trillion won (US$3.1 billion) theme park in
Hwaseong, about 70 kilometers southwest of Seoul, by 2013. Decisions on the exact
size of the park and investments to be made have yet to be finalized.
UPR is the theme park division of NBC Universal, a subsidiary of General Electric.
"The Universal Studios Korea Resort to be constructed on 4.35 million square
meters of land in Hwaseong will be the largest such facility in the world," a
spokesman for the local government told Yonhap News Agency. The company currently
operates Universal Studios parks in Orlando, Los Angeles and Japan's Osaka. The
new facility will be twice the size of the theme parks in Orlando and Los
Angeles, which cover 1.8 million square meters and 1.69 million square meters,
respectively, officials said.
The two sides will hold a ceremony to proclaim the launch of the construction
project on Tuesday, while final contracts will be signed a few months later, he
added.
Thomas Williams, chairman of UPR, arrived in South Korea on Sunday to meet South
Korean officials and attend the ceremony.
In a meeting with South Korea's Culture Minister Yu In-chon on Monday, Williams
was quoted by ministry officials as saying that renowned director Steven
Spielberg, who serves as a creative consultant for Universal Studios' theme
parks, will attend the future ground-breaking ceremony in South Korea.
Tuesday's ceremony will also be attended by Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo, Yu
and representatives from 16 South Korean companies investing in the project, the
local government said.
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