K-pop Sphere arena gets green light as gov’t cuts red tape

Finance

Published: 08 Nov. 2023, 11:55 Updated: 08 Nov. 2023, 19:02

K-pop Sphere arena gets green light as gov’t cuts red tape

The MSG Sphere arena in Las Vegas is pictured.[CHOI SEUNG-PYO]

Development for Sphere Entertainment's project to build a K-pop arena will move faster, as the government vowed Wednesday to ease regulations and reduce administrative procedures to promote the swift and smooth implementation of major corporate investment projects.

Such projects include U.S. Sphere Entertainment's plan to construct a 160 meters-wide, 120 meters high K-pop arena in Hanam, Gyeonggi.

The U.S. entertainment company seeks to start construction of the venue before 2025, but it takes more than 42 months to conduct a feasibility study to review the potential lifting of development restrictions and to go through other administrative procedures.

"The government will fast-track licensing and other administrative procedures to reduce the period to 21 months to help [the company] carry out the project as planned," a ministry official said.

The government presented a set of tailored deregulatory measures for 18 projects led by private companies worth 46 trillion won ($35.06 billion) combined to address business challenges and improve investment conditions amid high interest rates and other uncertainties, the Finance Ministry said.

"While Korea has shown signs of an economic recovery on increased production and exports, challenging conditions persist both domestically and abroad amid concerns over prolonged global monetary tightening and rising geopolitical risks," Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said.

"To further support the recent economic recovery trend, the government will expand investments and promote consumption to revitalize domestic spending," Choo added.

Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho speaks about the government's plans to implement deregulatory measures for 18 projects led by private companies at a meeting held at the government complex in central Seoul. [YONHAP]

According to the plan, the government will also consider a law revision to help S-Oil secure a site for a storage yard and a parking lot needed for its ongoing construction of a large-scale refinery in Ulsan under the 9.3 trillion-won Shaheen project.

The move came as the refiner is facing difficulties in using nearby sites for those facilities due to an act on industrial cluster development, the ministry said.

The government further vowed to make special rules on the management of hazardous materials to shorten the period of building battery production factories and cut costs, as LG Energy Solution, SK On and other companies plan to invest around 1.9 trillion won combined over the next couple of years in the establishment of new facilities in the Chungcheong region.

Other projects on the government's list for support through deregulation include the envisioned establishment of a branch of an art center in Busan and the plan to build a new airport in the country's southeastern region, the ministry said.

BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]