Task force launches to transform Cheju into int¡¯l free city

The task force assigned to develop Cheju Island into an international free city held a launching ceremony Friday at the Kwachon government complex. Among those in attendance at the event were Minister of Construction and Transportation Kim Yoon-Ki and Cheju Island governor Woo Keun-Min.

The task force will map out a basic plan for the project in the first half of this year and push to change the special law on the development of Cheju Island into the special law for the creation of Cheju international free city. It also plans to establish an organization next year to head the development effort.

Through the development of Seoguipo Port and its neighboring region, bolstering the function of Chungmoon Tourism Estate, developing a science and technology estate, and designating Cheju Airport as a tariff-free zone, the government plans to transform Cheju Island into a composition-type international free city by 2010. The island would function as a tourism-centered international free city and logistics and finance hub.

Upon completion of the project, the number of tourists visiting the island is expected to reach 9.4 million, 2.5 times the 3.7 million that went there in 1999. Its gross regional domestic product (GRDP) is forecast to reach 11 trillion won.