CJ E&M to build a HallyuWorld

CJ E&M said Wednesday it will build a complex in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul, by the end of 2020 to promote Korea’s cultural content, better known as Hallyu.

Korea’s leading entertainment content and media company said it will invest 1.4 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in the construction of a theme park, a shopping mall, lodging and other commercial facilities on 300,000 square meters (74 acres) of land within HallyuWorld.

The complex site is located near the SBS and MBC television studios, Korea’s largest exhibition center Kintex, a large lake park, Paju Printing and Publishing Industry Complex and Heyri Arts Village.

It is accessible within 20 and 35 minutes from Gimpo and Incheon international airports, respectively. Tourists can also reach the complex in about 40 minutes from downtown Seoul.

“We are currently drawing blueprints for the theme park, the concert hall, a hotel and commercial facilities,” a CJ E&M official said. “We are scheduled to begin construction for all the facilities concurrently in March next year.”

The complex will have a 4DX theater providing various chair-embedded sensory effects, such as puffs of air, scented mist, seat motion and vibration as well as Screen X which allows moviegoers to enjoy a realistic cinematic experience without wearing 3-D glasses.

In addition people visiting the complex will get to experience the latest advances in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, robotics and other state-of-the-art technologies.

The Goyang city government expects the complex will create 25 trillion won in economic effects for the coming 10 years while employing 170,000 people.

“It will serve as a blue ocean for the city which has long been seen as a bedroom town,” a city official said. “We will try to develop a synergy effect with the media and broadcasting complex to be built in cooperation with CJ, JTBC and EBS.”

The complex will help globalize hallyu and further promote sustainable development of Korean culture, he said.

Yonhap