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| These are artists’ concepts for a 112-story, 555-meter-tall office tower Lotte Group plans to construct in Jamsil, southern Seoul. | ||
Korean government finally approved the construction project for Lotte World II, 112-story skyscraper in southern Seoul.
The coordination committee on administrative decision announced Tuesday that it withdrew the disapproval decision on building Lotte World II due to safety issues with Air Forces, which was made on July 26th of 2007.
The government had stood by the side of National Defense Department back in 2007 for possibility that existence of the high-rise tower would pose a collision risk to planes using the airport. And the administration set the high at 203 meters and banned from building 555-meter skyscraper.
The site is located just 5.7 kilometers away from Seoul Airport, a key Air Force installation integral to the defense of the capital area from North Korea.
However, Lotte now gets the go-ahead sign for building on condition that the company will cover the full costs to overhaul the direction of a runway to ensure flight safety.
By building it, Lotte expects the number of tourists in Korea to increase by two million, from 1.5 million foreign visitors annually, through which foreign exchange earnings can be expected to reach at least $200 million per year.
Office of the Prime Minister in Korea announced that budget for the construction is expected to be about 10 billion dollars including foreign investment and Lotte anticipated the creation of 23,000 new jobs, adding that new tower is going to bolster the country's construction sector, revitalize the investments, and help increase the employment in Korea.
Critics, however, continued to question the Defense Ministry`s motives for suddenly accepting Lotte`s plans, as the area in which the skyscraper would be built remains under international flight control.
By Shin Kirim
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