[UPDATES] Universal Studio project faces possible delay in negotiations

By Park Sae-jin Posted : August 23, 2016, 11:29 Updated : August 23, 2016, 15:58
 

[Courtesy of K-Water]


An ambitious project pushed by President Park Geun-hye to build a Universal Studios theme park in South Korea faces a possible delay in completing negotiations on funding and other terms, but project managers are still confident it will be back on track.  

Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-Water), a state water resource development and management agency, is building the amusement park in Songsan Green City, an industrial complex which is under construction in Hwaseong, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Seoul.

The complex requires an estimated investment of about five trillion won (4.48 billion US dollars) on a 4.2 square-kilometer plot that would include the theme park, a K-pop concert arena, accommodations, a golf resort, a water park, a shopping center and other facilities.

In December, K-Water picked a consortium led by China's top state-run builder China State Construction Engineering Corp. and China Travel Services, a state agency, as a preferred bidder for the project. The consortium also includes South Korean builders Daewoo Engineering & Construction and Dohwa Engineering.

K-Water had hoped to complete negotiations by the end of August, but they now think they need more time because of "a lot of problems" to be addressed,  a senior project manager told Aju News on condition of anonymity. 

"There is no fixed deadline, and we may need more time to narrow differences in negotiations," he said. "This kind of a massive project usually requires a lot of problems to be resolved."

The manager expressed veiled optimism that the consortium would be able to secure enough money, though the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) has been tied up with an important task of restructuring shipbuilders, container carriers, and other troubled companies.

"KDB is just one of many players involved in our project. We believe there will be no trouble in our funding," he said in response to a Yonhap News report that the touchiest issue at the moment is whether the consortium will be able to receive state funding.

Yonhap quoted consortium officials as saying state funding may make it difficult for the consortium to raise the necessary money, potentially derailing the project entirely.

In an effort to make the project more viable, the government has decided to provide funding and infrastructure support, as well as offer incentives by designating the site as a foreign investment zone. K-Water has also offered the land to cut the construction cost, Yonhap said.

The project was floated in 2007 amid hopes it would be up and running in 2012, but the project was delayed by the global financial crisis and put on ice in 2012 over funding. But South Korea has again been pushing for the project after President Park, the then-ruling-party candidate, offered it as one of her promises for the presidential election in December that year.

Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
기사 이미지 확대 보기
닫기