Gov't greenlights blueprint for theme park and resort in Saemangeum

The government finalized on Monday a blueprint to build a theme park and resort complex in Saemangeum in North Jeolla by 2026 with private sector investments worth 144.3 billion won ($110.9 million).

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, center, presides over the 31st Saemangeum committee meeting at the government complex in central Seoul and discusses investments for projects to develop the Saemangeum reclaimed wetland. [YONHAP]

The government finalized on Monday a blueprint to build a theme park and resort complex in Saemangeum in North Jeolla by 2026 with private sector investments worth 144.3 billion won ($110.9 million).

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo convened a government meeting approving the proposal for an integrated development plan to transform a portion of the 409-square-kilometer (nearly 158-square-mile) Saemangeum reclaimed wetland into a so-called "challenge theme park."

The theme park and resort project will entail the construction of tourist accommodations, including a 150-room condominium and 15 private villas.

Recreational facilities will also be built, including a performance area for children and a Ferris wheel.

The plan encourages coexistence with the local community by introducing a marketplace for local products and reorganizing trails currently operated to be open to the public at all times.

The site of the resort area will be less than 4 kilometers away from the venue of the woe-begotten 25th World Scout Jamboree in Buan County in August, an event which initially came under fierce scrutiny over unsanitary conditions at the campsite, inadequate food and lack of heat-reducing measures amid a nationwide heat wave. Scouts from all over the world eventually had to relocate to other locations because of a looming typhoon amid public criticism of the government and organizing committee's lack of preparedness.

Han presided over Monday's Saemangeum committee meeting at the government complex in central Seoul to discuss the tourism development project and encourage secondary battery businesses at the Saemangeum industrial complex. Pollution control measures were also discussed.

This marks the first time private companies have invested in Saemangeum's tourism development under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

"We expect this to serve as a catalyst for revitalizing tourism in Saemangeum and attracting more private investment in the future," Han said.

Since the launch of the administration, private investments worth 7.8 trillion won have been secured for Saemangeum's development to date, and the government forecasts a total of 10 trillion won worth in private investments will be earmarked by the end of this year, mainly from rechargeable battery companies. This comes as the government has pushed to turn Saemangeum into a major industrial center.

Construction for the resort complex is set to begin later this year.

In July, the Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency announced that the Saemangeum National Industrial Complex was designated as a "secondary battery special zone."

Entrepreneurs at the zone, according to the National Advanced Strategic Industry Act, will receive administrative and financial support and advantages in infrastructure installation and licensing procedures and tax incentives. The government envisions Saemangeum becoming a hub of Korea's secondary battery industry.

The government also decided to prepare measures to prevent environmental pollution at secondary rechargeable battery factories, such as expanding wastewater and waste treatment plants.

"The government will actively support the Saemangeum reclaimed land project so that it can be utilized properly and become a real source of vitality not only for the North Jeolla region but also for the Korean economy," Han said.

The public-private Saemangeum committee, co-chaired by the prime minister and Jeonbuk National University Vice President Park Young-gi, discusses the efficient development and management of Saemangeum and environmental conservation.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]