South Korean conglomerate CJ group has begun the construction of a huge amusement park in a bid to dazzle visitors with a panoply of attractions based on South Korea’s culture and history.
A consortium led by CJ will spend 1.4 trillion won (S$1.6 billion) to build the entertainment complex, which includes a hotel and performance hall, in the city of Goyang, a suburb of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province. The group is hoping the broad popularity of K-pop in Asia, a vast and fast-growing market for musical entertainment, will help the new theme park attract 5 million visitors annually when it opens in 2017.
Dubbed “K-Culture Valley,” the park will occupy some 300,000 sq. meters, the equivalent of 46 football fields.
The project is fully backed by the Korean government, which is seeking to revitalise a dented tourist industry, as indicated by the presence of President Park Geun-hye at a groundbreaking ceremony held on May 20. At the event, Park stressed the important role of culture and creative content in driving the country’s future economic growth.
The complex will be composed of six zones, with each one featuring specific era in the history of Korean culture. It will also boast an auditorium equipped with a new movie-presentation technology called 4DX, which has been developed by a CJ group unit to enhance the film-viewing experience with environmental effects, such as moving seats, scents, fog and even simulated rain.
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