– Hallyu-Wood Goodwill Ambassador Jackie Chan and Major Hallyu Stars including Actress Choi Ji-woo to Participate in the Ceremony
– Expectations for the Expansion of Hallyu Culture Are High

Gyeonggi Province will host the “Hallyu-Wood Kick-off Festival”, the ground-breaking ceremony for Hallyu-wood Zone 1, on the site of the Hallyu-wood project on May 29, 2008. Hallyu-wood Zone 1 will accommodate a theme park and commercial areas.

Unlike most typical ground-breaking ceremonies, this ceremony has been organized as a cultural event, reflecting the fact that Hallyu-wood is planned to be both a tourist attraction and a cultural complex. The ceremony will feature the Korean Letter Fashion Show (Designer Lee Sang-bong), in which more than 20 Korean models will take the stage, Choi So-ri’s Percussion Performance, a performance by the Goyang Philharmonic Orchestra, a Character Show to promote Korean animation characters like Dooly, and a performance by Jewelry, a famous Korean vocal group.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the Hallyu-wood Theme Park will be attended by Jackie Chan as well as more than 20 Korean Hallyu stars including Choi Ji-woo, Lee Chang-ho (professional Baduk player), Jewelry, Kim Yoon-jin, Lee Hye-yeong, Cho Hyeon-jae, Jeon Hye-bin, Oh Hyun-kyung, Kim Jeong-hoon, Oh Dae-gyu, Kang Seok-woo, Son Hyun-ju, Seol Wun-do, Hong Hak-pyo, Byeon Hee-bong, and Baek Yoon-sik. The ceremony will also be attended by luminaries from cultural, political, and business circles, including the well-known film directors Lim Kwon-taek and Kim Jong-hak.

Most notably, Jackie Chan, who is an international star, and Choi Ji-woo, a Korean actress who is very popular in Japan, will be appointed as goodwill ambassadors for Hallyu-wood, and will promote Hallyu around the world as well as in Asia as part of efforts to develop Hallyu-wood into a mecca for themed tours. The two ambassadors will also participate in the press conference.

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

Hallyu-wood Zone 1 will be built on a site of 282,352 and will accommodate a theme park and commercial facilities. Designed as a theme park with a Hallyu concept, it will be clearly differentiated from typical theme parks that focus on tourist attractions and rides. It will be a downtown theme park that is highly accessible to urban dwellers.

The theme park will feature the “Hallyu Studio” where visitors can experience 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.

A Gyeonggi Province spokesperson said, “The economic benefits arising from the Hallyu-wood project are expected to amount to KRW 6.99 trillion during the project period, with more than 53,000 jobs created. After completion, the number of annual visitors will reach 6 million, creating economic benefits of KRW 2.35 trillion every year and more than 35,000 jobs annually. However, the Hallyu-wood theme park cannot be evaluated only in terms of its economic benefits. The park will serve as a resort area for citizens. It will become a new tourism product for the Seoul Metropolitan area, and a venue for the production and consumption of Hallyu culture. It will have a major social impact as infrastructure to attract interest in and expand Hallyu culture.”