12 seconds ago 2009-12-04T04:35:02-08:00
SEOUL, South Korea – Developers of a Universal Studios theme park and resort in South Korea said Tuesday they have agreed on a site for the $3.1 billion project just south of Seoul they hope will serve as a draw for visitors from nearby China.
USK Property Holdings Co., South Korea's Gyeonggi province and other partners said plans are for the park to be completed by the spring of 2012 and that 58,000 new jobs would be created.
Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Moon-su said the project "will give momentum for the nation ... to increase inbound tourist receipts from China and southeast Asia" and will bring "enormous cultural and economic effects."
The site in the city of Hwaseong in Gyeonggi is located about 20 miles south of Seoul and also close to its main international airport in Incheon, officials said. About 24 million people live within an hour's drive, they said. South Korea has about 50 million people.
The facility is also to include a convention center, hotels, golf courses and an outlet mall, they said.
USK Property Holdings has an agreement to be the representative for Universal Parks & Resorts Co. to search for, develop and operate a Universal Studios theme park, said Frank P. Stanek, USK Property's president.
Stanek said that the project would be the biggest investment ever made into a Universal Studios theme park at the time of opening and would be the largest in physical size internationally for Universal.
Universal Parks & Resorts, a division of General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal, operates parks in Orlando, Florida, and Hollywood, California, in the United States, as well as in Osaka, Japan. The company is also developing Universal Studios parks in Singapore and Dubai.
USK property, Gyeonggi province and other partners including banks and builder Posco Engineering & Construction Co. signed a memorandum of understanding for the deal.
Stanek said that the site plan and theme park content had still to be approved by Universal before the deal can be finalized though he expressed confidence the plan would go through.
"This is a real project," he told reporters. "This project will proceed."
Universal first announced plans for a park in South Korea in May. Thomas L. Williams, the chairman of Universal Parks & Resorts, visited the site in early November.
Current Universal theme parks include attractions based on Universal films including "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" and "King Kong," as well as movies made by other studios such as "Spiderman" and "Shrek."
