Gyeonggi Province will appoint international movie star Jackie Chan a goodwill ambassador of Hallyu-wood in Gyeonggi Province, for which he will be presented with a plaque of appointment at the Office of the Governor of Gyeonggi Province at 3:00 P.M. on May 28, 2008.

The rovince decided to appoint Mr. Chan a goodwill ambassador for Hallyu-wood because he had previously expressed a willingness to serve as a global promoter of Korean culture. Mr. Chan has been deeply interested in Korean culture for a long time, and has built friendships with many Hallyu stars.

He loves Korea so much that he even lived in Korea for a while. He has been a successful movie star in Hollywood as well as in Asia, and his work has contributed to the globalization of Asian culture. In addition, he is famous as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, and has performed a great deal of charity work to help the needy, including children and seniors.

Mr. Chan was born in Hong Kong in 1954. Since his first film appearance in “Big and Little Wong Tin-Bar” in 1970, he has starred in many successful films including “New Police Story”, “Drunken Master”, “Miracle: Mr. Canton and Lady Rose”, and “Project A”. His recent movies, including “Rush Hour 3” and “The Forbidden Kingdom”, have attracted large audiences in Korea.

Following the appointment ceremony, he will participate in the Hallyu-wood Kick-off Festival, an official ground-breaking ceremony for Hallyu-wood, and will begin his activities as a goodwill ambassador. The festival will be held at the site for Hallyu-wood in Janghang-dong, Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province, at 5:00 P.M. on May 29, 2008.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the Hallyu-wood Theme Park will be attended by more than 20 Korean Hallyu stars, including Ahn Seong-gi, Kim Yoon-jin, Kim Rae-won, Lee Jun-gi, Kim A-jung, Chang Mi-hee, and Choi Jin-sil, as well as many important figures in political and business circles, including Yoo In-chon, the Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

Unlike most typical ground-breaking ceremonies, the ceremony will be held as a cultural event, reflecting the fact that Hallyu-wood is to be both a tourist attraction and a cultural complex. The ceremony will feature the Korean Letter Fashion Show (Designer Lee Sang-bong) that will include more than 20 Korean models, Choi So-ri’s Percussion Performance, a concert by the Goyang Philharmonic Orchestra, a Character Show, and a performance by Jewelry, a famous Korean vocal group.

Gyeonggi Province will be investing approximately KRW 2.8 trillion in the 994,756site in Janghang-dong of Goyang City, and intends to build a comprehensive cultural and tourism complex. The complex will accommodate a theme park, commercial facilities, residential-commercial complex apartments, hotels, contents support facilities, and broadcasting facilities, including EBS and a broadcasting media facility of the Broadcasting and Communications Commission.

Hallyu-wood Zone 1 will be built on a 282,352 site, and will accommodate a theme park and commercial facilities. The theme park will include a “Hallyu Studio”, where visitors can watch drama and film shoots, “Animesia”, where animations and entertainment facilities are combined, and “Asian Garden”, a venue that will be operated year-round for festivals and events. Commercial facilities to be built in Zone 1 include a Korean arts school, a Korean food school, a Hallyu museum, a facility for children’s education and recreation, a Korean gallery, a concert hall, and a multiplex theater.