Gov't unveils plan to build int'l business city on southwest coast

By Shim Sun-ah
SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will build an international leisure and
business city, modeled after Amsterdam and Venice, on a massive reclaimed tidal
flat on the country's southwestern coast by 2030, the government said Friday.

The new eco-friendly waterfront city is to be built on the reclaimed land called
Saemangeum, about 200 kilometers south of Seoul, at a cost of 21 trillion won
(US$18 billion). It will be designed to house industrial parks, tourism and
leisure facilities, international business quarters, eco parks, science research
centers and farmland, said the government.
The government said it will offer various incentives to lure foreign direct
investments to the new city, named "Ariul."
The development plan follows up on a previous government decision to transform
the reclaimed Saemangeum area into a huge industrial and tourism complex with
both domestic and foreign investments, Park Young-jun, a vice minister at the
prime minister's office, told reporters.
In 1991, the government began work to create farmland by reclaiming the tidal
flat that covers 400 square kilometers -- about seven times the size of Manhattan
-- in North Jeolla Province. The fall of the farming industry, however, led the
government to change its mind last July and decide to turn the reclaimed land
into an eco-friendly business city.
Park said the government will turn one-fourth of the land into a new city that
will include industrial, international business and tourism.
The government will use about 3 trillion won out of the total budget for
upgrading the quality of water to be supplied to the city from 2011 to 2020, he
said.
To dispel fears of a delay in the project, he said, Seoul will begin the
construction of a new port in the Saemangeum area by the end of next year and
carry out five lead projects in steps by 2013. The government changed the
percentage of land to be developed in the first stage plan from the initial 65
percent to 71.4 percent, he said.
Construction of a highway and railroad linking the area to the nearby cities of
Jeonju and Gunsan is under consideration in order to increase the accessibility
of the reclaimed land, he added.
The government designated Ariul, a Korean compound word meaning a waterfront
city, as a second brand name for Saemangeum to facilitate foreign investment.
"With the establishment of the comprehensive implementation plan, we hope the
Saemangeum project will get a further boost," Park said.
The reclamation project had been suspended for years amid severe criticism from
environmentalists and some local residents concerned with potentially widespread,
irreversible environmental damage in the middle of the west coast, which has been
home to migrant birds and various creatures. The government resumed the
construction, building a 33km seawall in 2007, a year after the Supreme Court
ruled in favor of the government ending the four-year and seven-month-long legal
dispute between the agriculture ministry and the activists.
Saemangeum is supposed to emerge as an attractive investment destination due to
its proximity to China, just across the Yellow Sea, with the North Jeolla
government expecting to support up to 2,000 businesses, factories, logistics
bases, research and development centers, clean production factories and
international business complexes to facilitate trade. Several energy-related
companies from Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan have shown interest, South Korean
officials said, noting the central and provincial governments will provide tax
breaks, cheap land and other incentives for investors.
sshim@yna.co.kr
(END)

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