SK planting seed of walnut village in officials’ minds

SK Group is in talks with local governments to create a walnut village, the first of its kind in the country, in Cheonan, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Seoul. Temporarily dubbed “Walnut Theme Park,” the tourism complex will not only sell naturally grown walnuts and other agricultural products, but also provide restaurants and accommodation services, the group said.

SK Forest, the group’s afforestation unit, has been rearing 46,000 walnut trees. It harvests about 10 tons of walnut each year.

SK Group donated 50 billion won ($45.79 million) raised by walnut sales to Sejong City in South Chungcheong to build eco-friendly crematorium facilities in 2010. Construction of the theme park is scheduled to begin in 2014. Some of the proceeds will go to the group’s scholarship programs.