Mirae group to develop luxury resort in Yeosu

A consortium led by Mirae Asset Financial Group and U.K.-based investment firm Castlepines Corporation will invest 1 trillion won ($827 million) in a luxury resort on Gyeong Island in Yeosu, South Jeolla by 2029.

Last August, a Mirae-led team was selected as the preferred bidder for a project overseen by state-run bodies including the provincial government of South Jeolla, the Yeosu city government and Jeonnam Development Corporation.

Mirae plans to pay 342.3 billion won to purchase the 2.1 million-square-meter (22.9-million square-foot) site and spend 750 billion won to construct a resort that will include a hotel, yacht club, marine cable cars and a water park.

With construction set to begin in 2019, the project will be carried out in two phases. The first phase will run through 2024 and 60 percent of the investment will be spent. The second will go through 2029 and the balance of the investment will be spent.

To build a bridge connecting the island with an area called Dolsan, Mirae will pay for 20 percent, the central government will shell out 50 percent and South Jeolla and Yeosu will cover 30 percent.

The financial group signed an agreement with the provincial government and Jeonnam Development Corporation on Monday.

“I am pleased that Mirae Asset participated in the project to develop South Korea’s southern coast as a center for tourism in the 21st century,” said Mirae Asset Chairman Park Hyeon-joo.

Park said that he saw potential in the region for a luxury resort, backed by a growing number of tourists. A total of 13 million people both from other Korean cities and foreign countries visited the city in 2015, up 31.3 percent from a year earlier.

The move is also in line with the group’s efforts to bolster property investment.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]