Government Designates Two Additional Business Cities

Taean of Chungnam province and Haenam and Yeongam of Jeonnam province have been designated as additional model business cities focused on tourism and leisure.

As a result, the number of model cities has increased to six, including Muan of Jeonnam Province (industry and trade based), Chungju of Chungbuk Province (knowledge based), Wonju of Gangwon Province (knowledge based), and Muju of Jeonbuk Province (tourism and leisure based).

The decisions were made on August 25 at the meeting of the business city committee chaired by Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan.

The six model business cities will conclude their development plans and start construction as early as the end of 2005 and the second half of 2006, respectively, after consultation among relevant ministries and agencies and discussion in the business city committee.

Taean Goes from Reclaimed Land to Tourist Destination-

Taean business city will be built in Taean of Chungnam Province. The site was reclaimed in 1982 by Hyundai Engineering and Construction.

As 96.3 percent of the land is owned by Hyundai Engineering and Construction, there is no need for additional purchases of land, which is expected to accelerate the project.

Taean and Hyundai Engineering and Construction are planning to build the area as a city of tourism and leisure by 2010, investing 2.0357 trillion won in the project.

The highlight of the project is a public golf course with 99 holes and a membership golf course with 18 holes on a land area of 2.579 million pyeong.

Hyundai Engineering and Construction will preserve one million pyeong out of the land, which was originally included in the agricultural zone, as farmland, and will restore 2.26 million pyeong, where no facility will be built, to farmland in case of an emergency, such as a food crisis.

This area will be built as a ubiquitous city with a high-tech information communication network.

Haenam and Yeongnam: the Core Cities of the “J-Project”-

A maritime tourism city will be built on 10 million pyeong of reclaimed land in Haenam and Yeongnam of Jeonnam Province. This project is well known as the “J-Project,” named after the initials of Jeonnam province.

A theme park, convention centers, casinos, theme hotels, and aquarium will be built as core facilities on 3.2 million pyeong. By 2012, 10.5 trillion won will be invested in the project.

Befitting the size of the construction projects, many companies are engaged. Four consortiums and 15 other companies will participate in the project; such as a joint team made up of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and Korea Tourism Organization, Jeonnam Development Consortium of Jeonnam Development Corporation and Gwangju•Jeonnam oriented companies, a consortium of Japanese corporations, and M-Bridge holdings.

Jeonnam Province is planning to expand the city to 29.42 million pyeong by 2016. This is estimated to cost 35 trillion won in total.

An obstacle to the project is that the reclaimed area surrounding the Yeongsan River, which constitutes most of the project area, is owned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Jeonnam Province will receive the land from Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for free.

Jae-Seong Hwang Seung-Heon Lee jsonhng@donga.com ddr@donga.com