Construction for Asia's largest theme park here to begin March 2011

SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean consortium signed a deal Tuesday to
break ground March next year for Asia's largest theme park in South Korea's
Gyeonngi Province alongside U.S.-based Universal Parks & Resorts.
Officials of the provincial government and a group of local investors inked the
agreement to develop the Universal Studio theme park on land located about 70
kilometers southwest of Seoul.
The envisioned resort, named Universal Studios Korea, is a 3 trillion won
(US$2.67 billion) project that draws on major investment from South Korean retail
conglomerate Lotte Group, the construction unit of top steelmaker POSCO E&C, and
10 other local firms.
Universal Parks and Resorts, the theme park division of NBC Universal -- a
subsidiary of General Electric -- will lend operational knowhow as well as brand
name recognition to the South Korean developers, officials from the province and
the Culture Ministry said.
How much cash Universal Parks and Resorts will invest in the theme park has yet
to be determined.
"Through Universal Studios Korea Resort, Korea will become the fifth of the G20
nations to have a global theme park," Gyeonggi Provincial Governor Kim Moon-soo
said during the signing ceremony. The theme park will "become the focal point of
the west coast economic tourism belt by successfully attracting tourists from
China and other nations."
The idea of Universal Studios Korea emerged in 2007, but the project was delayed
by funding problems until Lotte Group decided to take part with a shareholding of
26.7 percent, officials said. The other major holder, POSCO, has 24.4 percent.
Thomas Williams, chairman of Universal Parks and Resorts, said he envisioned a
"unique" and "family-oriented" resort that transforms South Korean tourism and
also draws foreign visitors. Williams said the Orlando-based firm is "investing
in this project" but refused to say how much cash it plans to put in.
"We believe in the South Korean tourism business and we believe the Universal
Studios Korea project will play a leading role in the growth and development of
the Korean tourism industry," Williams said.
"The number of Asian tourists has been significantly growing," he added, "but we
want more to come to Korea to have a great time."
Construction is set to begin in March 2011 in Hwaseong, about 70 kilometers
southwest of Seoul, on a space of 4.3 million square meters, and is slated for
completion in 2013. The complex will include a theme park, a water park, hotels
and golf courses, among other entertainment facilities and hopes to draw 1.5
million visitors a year, the officials and investors said.
When the first stage of the construction will be completed in March 2014, theme
park will be open to the public.
It will be larger than the combined space of three major theme parks operated by
Universal Parks in Orlando, Los Angeles and Japan's Osaka, they said. Another
Universal Studios theme park is currently under construction in Singapore.
"Universal Parks & Resorts is an established company with brand power, but it has
yet to put in cash," Kim Cheol, a tourism official at the Culture Ministry, said.
"We are not sure how the project will kick off, but expect that this signing
ceremony will give it momentum to move forward."
(END)