Marvel theme park planned for southern Korea
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United Arab Emirate-based developer Al Ahli Group and the Korean city government of Busan signed a partnership agreement to build a theme park that will feature the superheroes of U.S. comic book company Marvel Entertainment Inc., the two sides said Tuesday (May 27).
The Busan Metropolitan City and Al Ahli plan to build the theme park, where "The Hulk," "X-Men," "Spider-man" and other heroes of Marvel's stable will help draw 3.5 million visitors a year, at the country's southern port city by the first-half of 2013, both sides said.
The theme park will cost at least $800 million, they said in a joint statement.
For the theme park, Marvel signed a licensing agreement with Al Ahli on May 22 in New York, according to the statement.
The facility is part of the Korean city's project to build a large-scale tourism complex for 4 trillion won ($3.8 billion) by 2016.
With the Marvel theme park, the tourism complex will become the "most attractive tourism attraction in Northeastern Asia," Busan Mayor Hur Nam-sik told reporters in Seoul.
Marvel joined three other Hollywood film studios -- Universal Studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Paramount Pictures -- which separately announced projects with local partners to open theme parks in Korea.
Last week, Korean auto retailer Daewoo Motor Sales Corp. and Paramount Pictures announced they will open a $1.5 billion movie amusement park in western Korea by 2011.
Universal Studios, controlled by General Electric Co., and local builder POSCO Engineering & Construction Co. plan to build a $3 billion theme park south of Seoul by 2012.
The source of news : Korea.net May 27, 2008
