What happens in Vegas stays in Incheon?

After years of intense lobbying, LOCZ is rumored to be about to get an official agreement for its casino project in Yeongjong-do*. That's the little name of the Ceasars Entertainment Corporation - Lippo Group JV mentioned in my focus last October on Incheon's Las Vegas ambitions (see "Paradise City v. Sin City").

Awarding the first foreign license to a US-Indonesia duo would certainly balance casino geopolitics in the region. Too bad for Japan (pachinko kings Universal Entertainment), or Macau (Melco International Development, headed by Stanley Ho's son Lawrence), but they may get another chance later.

For the moment, Caesars only operates in the US, Uruguay, the UK, and Egypt, and an entry point in Asia could be a game changer. They did operate a golf in Macau, but had to pull out a couple of years ago from a market very much locked by local players. It's very difficult for outsiders to make it that SAR, even if you're from Hong-Kong - look how Lau and Lo struggle with the law these days**!

Again, casino-wise, Incheon would be the ideal counterweight to Macau, less than two hours away from key East Asian markets, starting with Beijing and even Shanghai: PVG is 500 miles away from ICN, vs 800 for MFM.

Now whoever wins the keys to this future Sin City, let's hope they hire designers with a better taste than what we've seen so far in Incheon:

ICN's cult sculpture "flying to the future", the single-balled erection that has the whole world guffaw as soon as they land in Korea

Last time EightCity*** disclosed their masterplan (2012), I wondered how they would name this strange neighborhood: Dong-dong?

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* see "Seoul to OK casino project on Yeongjong" (Korea Times - 20140316)
** that's Joseph Lau Luen-hung and Steven Lo Kit-sing, who face prison there, see "Legal loophole may let Hong Kong tycoons escape jail in Macau"
*** codename for the developers of the new town: Kempinski, Korean Air, Daewoo Engineering & Construction, CandS Corporation

Paradise City v. Sin City

Last Tuesday, Paradise Group unveiled its "Paradise City" project on Yeongjongdo, a walking distance from Incheon International Airport. Construction starts next year and the first section shall be delivered by 2017. Ultimately, 160,000 visitors shall come daily, including a majority of Chinese tourists and business travelers*.

The KRW 1.9 Tn resort will include hotels, restaurants, convention spaces, and of course Paradise's speciality: foreigner-only casinos. The group already operates one nearby at the Hyatt Regency Incheon, and shouldn't remain the only big player for long in what seems to be the future Korean Las Vegas.

Paradise City

If you remember, a few years ago, IFEZ considered casinos as a potential 'vertical' to boost then ailing Songdo**. If the International Business District has since signed investors more consistent with its initial positioning, the potential remains huge for a gateway that welcomes tens of millions of visitors every year, including a growing number of Chinese citizens, some of whom already own a flat in Songdo. Yeongdongpo already boasts significant tourist infrastructures, and recent visa exemptions for short term stays considerably boosted the market of passengers in transit.


Incheon dreams of becoming the Northeast Asia rival to Macau, and the local casino king Stanley Ho doesn't seem to mind. He even wants to join the party, along with Universal Entertainment (Japan) and Vegas giant Ceasars Entertainment (USA, in a JV with Indonesia's Lippo Group***). But since foreign companies are not allowed to run casinos in Korea, they've been denied agreements so far, giving a head start to the national champion. This might change, and the same players are probably waiting for further regulation evolutions, in particular a "cruise bill" that could allow foreigner-only floating casinos (a life saver for OH Se-hoon's Floating Island?).

The next day, Gangwon-do announced a plan to develop Korea's first nude beach.
Try to top(less) that, KIM Jong-un! In his arms race for olympic gold and tourist silver (brand new water park, Masikryong Ski Resort), the young leader might be tempted to develop new unclad vehicles.


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*"Paradise Co. to build casino complex near Incheon airport" (Yonhap News 20131022)
** "DMC at full throttle - Songdo from Sim City to Sin City?" (2011/04)
*** Midan City: midancity.com

Songdo, DMC: sequence is of the essence (Part II)

In the first part of my umpeenth focus on Songdo and the Seoul DMC ("Songdo, DMC: sequence is of the essence (Part I)"), I insisted on symbols, images, concepts, purpose. Here, I linger on space and time, key dimensions of urbanism and architecture, where consistencies or discrepancies resonate. Of course, urbanism and architecture are foremost about humans, and when that small detail is not at the center of preoccupations, it shows.

Part I covered sections 0 and 1 of the 'master plan' below, Part II delivers lot # 2 (see also links to related articles at the end of this post), Part III will focus on the importance of timing:

0) City, Interrupted. Puzzle, Ongoing. Landmarks and Landscars
1) Purpose and Identity, Citizens and Citizones, Projects and Projections
2) Connectivity, Continuity and Consistence
3) Longing and Belonging - Sequence is of the Essence

NB: again, Songdo and the DMC cannot be compared (e.g. scale, timelines, stakes, relative importance for local authorities...), and they don't compete directly. This is not a comparison but a parallel update, with random thoughts about the evolution of ambitious urban projects.

Stephane

UPDATE: see Part III

UPDATE: download the whole focus in PDF format here.

*

2) Connectivity, Continuity and Consistence

Once more, these "Ubiquitous" cities are not yet "All Over The Place", and work is still in progress, so be patient!

One of Songdo's "Central Gaps". This block will soon be filled with low rise commercial buildings and shops.

One of the DMC's few remaining blind spots last year, along Digital Media street. This LED screen caught a bug, but the artwork is blind anyway.

But before exploring these new cityscapes, let's see how they integrate to their surroundings. If both Songdo and the DMC are connected to Incheon and Gimpo airports as well as to their respective urban environments, some key connectors show a bit too much, and seamlessness or urban continuum were not always top priorities.

For Songdo, that's almost a statement: "this is an exclusive neighborhood, let us grow on our own":

• Like Incheon Airport and the Incheon Bridge, Songdo is a place where sea meets sky. Skyscrapers emerge from far away in a rather flat landscape, and the newly claimed land also stands out from the sky:

According to the IFEZ master plan, Songdo will reach for Ansan and Incheon's old harbor, while growing a new one. But the IBD has yet to fill all the parts where earthwork has already been completed.

• Songdo IBD will eventually become a peninsula connected to Sinheung-dong to the north (when District 9 is completed), and firmly anchored to its surroundings through 6 bridges, not to mention of course the spectacular Incheon bridge, a direct link to Incheon Airport. On its northwestern side, it almost touches Dongchun-dong along Saeachim Park (New Morning Park), a promising promenade with a narrow waterway and two mini "mountain chains" in the background (Cheongryangsan-Munhaksan, Songdo's skyline).


• Unfortunately, Songdo combines two sins commonly seen in Korean new towns: the Great Highway Rift, and the Elevated Highway Curse:

- Instead of camouflaging the beefed-up Aam-daero, open air lanes have been added to further separate Songdo from Dongchun-dong and the future Paramount Movie Park Korea. Even if bike lanes have been laid out, cars rule overwhelmingly.

- Incheon Bridge ends in two concrete ribbons blotting out the scenery: Incheondaegyo Expressway (Highway 110) and Songdo Haeandoro (3rd Gyeongin Expressway along coastal road 77). The 2nd Seoul outer beltway will soon stretch new tentacles over the ocean, making sure the future Incheon New Port is itself cut from the rest of the IBD.

- This at a time when Seoul bitterly regrets the concrete monsters that disfigure some of its cutest waterways. This at a time when Paris starts covering its belt highway "Peripherique" to improve the osmosis with its direct urban environment, and considers doing the same around its La Defense business district. This at a time when Seoul thinks of ways of hiding the expressways separating Han riversides from the rest of the city... Again, highways don't belong in sustainable cities, and elevated roads are supposed to be patches you use when urban planning failed, the worst possible solution when you start from scratch. New roads should alleviate traffic, not cause more problems and create more demand for cars.

 From a distance, Songdo looks as highway-and-car-friendly as L.A. Songdo meet Brughel meet a great Korean classic: the elevated highway.

Songdo 2nd Bridge over Saechim Park, the Incheon Bridge expressway to the right

• Note that subway-wise, the aerotropolis is directly connected to the old Incheon center, but not to the airports: the Incheon Bridge was not doubled with railways, and you have to reach the AREX at Gyeyang Station, at the other end of Incheon Subway Line 1. That's not a long trip, but you draw a "seven" 3 to 4 times longer than the Incheon Bridge's straight line. And if the Suin Line will complete the Suwon-Incheon loop by 2014 (joining Songdo Station to Incheon Station), Songdo IBD hangs by itself at the end of the Line 1 hook. More stations are planned, but for the next one we might have to wait for the Songdo Incheon Tower, and the construction of the business center on the other side of Canal Walk has been postponed.

Canal Walk on the wild side, sunset over Incheon Bridge

• For the moment, Songdo has to do all the pushing, whereas it should be more a win-win, push-and-pull game with surrounding areas. Typically, the synergies between the IFEZ's 3 sub-projects (Yeongjong-Songdo-Cheongna) and the rest of Gyeonggi-do would be boosted if there were a coastal vertical connecting Cheongna, Incheon's Jung-gu, Songdo, and Siheung-Ansan. That's the role of the future 2nd Seoul outer beltway, but ideally, the vertical should also exist in a railway version. BTW I'm glad that they eventually decided to build a AREX Cheongna Station, but I still can't believe it was not planned from the start - as if the AREX and IFEZ projects existed in different galaxies! As a matter of law, I think no New Town project should get any authorization if there's not at least one subway connection from day one, and Subway Line 1 reached Songdo only in 2009, four years after the delivery of the first blocks (district 2).

The much smaller - and far closer to completion - DMC is now plugged as if to boost broadband communications within Western Seoul as well as between the capital and its neighbors. In spite of its own natural and man-made frontiers:

• The DMC draws a "T" in the northern half of Sangam-dong, which itself a draws a trapezoid on the Han River. If this block can't be compared to an island or a peninsula like Sondgo, its borders are clearly marked for pedestrians:
  
  - To the South, the block is separated from the Han River and its riverside park (Nanji Park) by the Gangbyeon Expressway and its 10 lanes of traffic. Also known as Jayuro or "Freedom Expressway", Gangbyeon runs along the Han River all the way to Paju, and connects the capital to Gimpo and Incheon airports. Note that unlike Songdo, the DMC is directly connected via AREX to both airports. Actually, at one stage, the Seoul Lite landmark tower was by itself meant as an all inclusive, miniature aerotropolis for business travelers. It a good thing that this anti-city scenario was dropped.
  
  - To the North, a disgracious urban separator prevents the DMC from dialoguing with Susaek-dong and Eunpyeong-gu: the Gyeongui Line. Seoul city considers burying it, but it will take time and here, it's as wide as around Seoul Station. And it's doubled with yet another major entry point to Western Seoul: a 6-to-8-lane axis that goes straight from Gwanghwamun to the heart of Goyang and Ilsan, first as Sajik-ro, then as Songsan-ro, here as Susaek-ro, and through Gyeonggi-do as Jungang-ro. Overall, if you include the thin layer of buildings sandwiched between the railways and the road, that's a 300 m - wide band, almost as thick as the bar of the "T". The Digital Media City Station (AREX, Gyeongui Line, Subway Line 6) does connect both sides, but the whole area will boom the day a Gwangwhamun Square-like revolution helps pedestrians claim that bandwidth, critical for seamless communications.
  
  - To the West, the DMC/Sangam-dong block is separated from Daedok-dong, Goyang city by Gayang-daero / Deogun-ro (8 lanes). And to the East, Jeungsan-ro (8 lanes) and Bulgwangcheon stream (3 bridges) mark the frontier with Songsan-dong / Jung-dong, Mapo-gu.

The T-shaped DMC in the Sangam-dong trapezoid.

• These vertical connectors (W/E) anchor the whole neighborhood to Western Seoul's two main entry points by road: Gangbyeon Expwy and Susaek-ro (S/N). They also reach across the river: Gayang-daero leads to Gayang-dong, Gangseo-gu, via the Gayang Bridge, and Jeungsan-ro will be prolonged southwards by the World Cup Bridge to Yeongdeungpo-gu (see "A World Cup Bridge for 2015"). Doubled with the Subway Line 6 loop, Jeungsan-ro also links the DMZ to the northernmost parts of Seoul : Eungam, and beyond, Yeonsinnae, Eunpyeong New Town, or Tongil-ro. To reach the Gangnam half of Seoul by rail, you have to reach Subway Line 2, or use the AREX (the future Magok District will only be one station away when Magongnaru Station opens).
  
• Overall, the DMC/Sangam block is rather well connected to the grid. But it's not just piggybacking an existing network: it also acts itself as a power plug connecting to Mapo-gu and Seoul parts of Gyeonggi-do previously underserved between the two horizontal backbones:
  
  - Eastwards, three 4-to-5-km-long "pins" of this plug reach deep into Mapo-gu: the three avenues that support the DMC's "T". At the top, the narrowest and shortest (Seongam-ro / Yeonnam-ro, 4 lanes) follows the lower Gyeongui Line until Donggyo-ro. That's the top of the bar. The other two go all the way to Yanghwa-ro: until Hongdae (Worldcup-bukro, 8 lanes), and Hapjeong (Nanjido-gil / Worldcup-ro, 6 lanes).
  
  - The "cable" end of the plug looks less subtle: blocked by Daedoksan to the West, the three roads merge through Daedok-dong into a road that crosses the southern parts of Goyang and Ilsan, and the western parts of Paju. Gorged with concrete steroids, this axis has become the second "Freedom Highway" (Je-2 Jayuro, #357), complete with brand new "unavoidable" elevated sections...
  
• Mercifully, the DMC itself is spared the "Elevated Highway Curse"*. And also the sight, noise and traffic of the Gangbyeon Expressway, thanks to the World Cup Park and its twin hills (Noeul and Haneul). So the former Nanjido landfill**** was not only transformed into an ecopark, but also into a green wall protecting the whole rehabilitated neighborhood. Note that there are also two smaller green hills under the bar of the T (Sangamsan and Mebongsan gave their names to the two central vertical streets, Sangamsan-ro and Mebongsan-ro). So instead of a "T", you rather see from the sky a "M" drawn on a green trapezoid:

An 2012 areal view of the DMC (fished from InvestSeoul.com). In the bottom half of this picture, we clearly see from left to right Haneul Park, Mebongsan, Jeungsan-ro and its Jeungsan Tunnel, and the World Cup Stadium.

Now when I roam the streets of Songdo and the Seoul DMC during the day or at night, can I feel an urban continuum, a consistency with the original concepts? I'd say that in the DMC, I feel like in a modern Seoul business district among others, and in Songdo, supposedly the epitome of The City of The IIIrd Millenium, almost like in a tribute to the XXth Century:

• Songdo is already alive and kicking. At the feet of most residential buildings, fleets of kid bikes tell the story of families enjoying fun time outdoors, and the city stretches only over 6 square kilometers at its core, so everything is within walking distance. The map can be easily memorized with its grid and functional blocks, and green areas cover a very significant proportion of the land. Smart details make life easier, for instance to cope with parcels when you're not home for the delivery, or to manage waste and energy... Citizens are confident that future commercial hubs (first around Lotte Mall, then North of Central Park) will boost the whole community.

• But this dream city looks a bit too sanitized, the urban planners' storytelling too polished and far-reaching. Humans look a bit like extras on a giant stage where the roads are too wide, and the skyscrapers too tall, waiting for directions from above. Everywhere you can read the script for the land, but it's as if the actors expected a play to be written for them as well. I love to walk in cities but between these neverending blocks I feel frustrated. And why surelevate this park? Pedestrians can only see inside when there's an entrance, unlike in say Yeouido's central park, where the whole neighborhood can enjoy the show, not just those who are inside, or above, watching from their penthouses. There are buses on the streets, but very few bikes or taxis. I didn't expect Masdar City's Podcars, but at least a vision for the future, a comprehensive and innovative strategy for transportation. Overall, Songdo reminds me of urbanism from the 1950s, a "modern" vision of a functional American city where cars rule. There's even a Niemey'air of Brasilia - doesn't this Central Park's "Tri-bowl" echo Oscar's famous Congresso Nacional building? I remember being already disappointed by the master plan years ago, then when the first residential districts were delivered, in the mid-naughties. Only Canal Walk emerged as a potentially alleywayish element added to this very classic new town, but occupancy remains low due to delays in the developments around the structure.

• More heterogeneous, the DMC mirrors the rest of Seoul. A significant part of Sangam-dong, in the Eastern half of the bar of the T, has not even been redevelopped. It includes the neighborhood's citizen center, and a few individual houses, but mostly consists of 3 to 5 story buildings. With Nuritkum Square at its crux, the Western half of the bar is marked by the curve of a "Digital Media Street" whose unfinished northern side has long been euphemized as an "art fence". This is certainly not a beautiful city or a model of urbanism, but it's somehow "softer", more convenient for pedestrians. Even if you have to cross a a wide road here or a railway there, the neighborhood is more at the human scale, the architecture less pretentious. Can it be fakely disruptive at times? Yes. Are we spared the usual "apateu" blocks? No. You're simply in a Seoul neighborhood with a decent green-to-concrete ratio, and an obvious 'business' purpose, not in some exclusive complex. After all, the DMC is not Sangam's only star: more Seoul citizens know the neighborhood for its World Cup Stadium, and many have if not visited at least seen the park and its wind power generators from the expressway.

The DMC is one of Seoul city's two test areas for bikesharing services. Well located next to a bus station, this station is fully operational on this beautiful May 2012 day: 7 of the 10 bicycles are being used.

For the DMC as well as for Songdo, and regardless of the conceptual successes or failures, planners focused on sections of space. Timing and sequencing seems to have resulted from constraints rather than from a strategic vision of the city. But for cities, time is of the essence. And planners should make sure they've got the dynamics right from the start.

And for us, that will be the final part of this focus.

*

End of part II

See part I
See part III

*

See also posts related to Songdo and the DMC, in particular:
- "Songdo on the world map (Green Climate Fund)" (December 2012)
- "Wet eyes for wetlands and urban mirages" (January 2012)
- "DMC at full throttle - Songdo from Sim City to Sin City ?" (April 2011)

- "DMC aims at Tinseltown - welcome to Hallyuwood!" (February 2011)
- "Seoul Digital Media City Tour" (July 2010)
- ...

See also posts related to urbanism and new towns, including:

- "Sudogwon New Town Blues" (March 2013)
- "Magok District: SIM City as in "Seoul Intra Muros"? Alleyways as in "Seoul Inter Muros"?" (January 2013)
- "From urban mirages to urban decay" (November 2011)
- ...

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* even if the Naebu Expressway starts at its gate. It covers Hongjecheon (see "Along Hongjecheon, my way or the highway"), which Bulgwangcheon joins at the corner of Pyeonghwa Park, at Nongsusansijang-ro.

**** reminder: if Songdo was built from scratch, the DMC was partly built over trash.

Ad Nauseam: about Dark Tourism, the Blind Spots of Memory, and Free Thrashing Agreements

Yesterday, I survived my first shaky landing in 20 years of Korea and 10 years of Incheon International Airport, courtesy typhoon Bolaven.

We'd knowingly left Seoul's hell (29+ degrees, 90%+ humidity, heavy rain) for a paradise called Cambodia (35+ degrees, 92%+ humidity, pouring rain), prefering the country's rainy season to its touristic rush hour. And we were rewarded with a wonderful trip between Siem Reap - Angkor and Phnom Penh, enjoying the marvels of the Khmer civilizations, the kindness of the people, great culinar experiences, incredibly lively markets and villages....

I'll spare you the 1500+ pixes I took, except these 3 sad ones. It's very unfair for such a beautiful country, but I had to make a few points.

The first picture was taken in Choeung Ek, better known as the "Killing Fields" of Phnom Penh, one of the main sites where the infamous Khmer Rouge regime mass murdered between one and two million innocent citizens.



Many Choeung Ek victims passed by Security Prison 21 (S-21), the symbol of Pol Pot's torture system, and now Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Here too, the unbearable stare of thousands of victims. Worse, you meet pupils instead of empty sockets:



Visiting such sites is always an upsetting experience, even more now that dark tourism has become so pervasive, and often associated with schadenfreude if not voyeurism. But what to make of this? At the top floor of the S-21 museum, an exhibition about the "Cambodia-Okinawa 'Peace Museum' Cooperation Project" was putting at the same level the civilian victims of the battle of Okinawa and the victims of the Cambodian genocide:




Till the end, this visit of Tuol Sleng exposed the worst of human nature. Of course, I feel deep empathy for innocent victims, and between 40 and 150,000 Japanese civilians died during that battle. But exactly like in the touching "Grave of the fireflies" animation movie, the audience is never told the whole story, the responsibilities of the Imperial regime are never mentioned, it's just a sad story about the absurdity of war and destruction, about remembering only one side of history, about painting Japan as a pure victim of World War II.

Putting at the same level the Cambodian genocide and this tragedy, which happened during a battle that also saw about 120,000 soldiers die (mostly within Japanese ranks), is as shocking as putting at the same level victims of the Holocaust and the civilian victims of say WWII Berlin.

This outrageous propaganda is also an insult to the memory of Okinawa victims, who do owe their fate to the madness of war, but also and firstly to the fascist regime that led their country to war crimes and crimes against humanity across the region.

The Japanese who initiated and financed this tasteless 'Peace Project' are deliberately fueling the "selective memory" imposture that obliterates the inconvenient truths of this great nation's history. It took almost 30 years for Cambodians to start prosecuting their war criminals, but over 65 years after WWII, Japan is still eluding its most essential duties as a democracy. Worse: as late as in 1978, when up to 300 innocents were butchered every day in Choeung Ek, Japan decided to enshrine 14 more of its own war criminals in Yasukuni. Still today, ministers keep honoring these war criminals in public.

As if maintaining the Japanese people in ignorance regarding the darkest sides of the Empire wasn't enough, impostors are now purchasing ad space abroad in the name of a caricature of peace that negates history and its lessons. They are shamelessly piggybacking on the Pol Pot franchise, using foreign war criminals to cover up their own war criminals.

Again, I love Japan, but these impostors have to be exposed, and this great country cannot keep eluding its past if it wants to have a sound future. The same can be said about most countries, including mine*, and of course Korea, a country where a former dictator walks free (Chun Doo-hwan), and another is adulated**, a country where the government decided to stop its truth and reconciliation process because it was seeking too much truth and too much reconciliation.

Actually, while reading the "Peace Museum" propaganda in S-21, I was reminded of my visit to another jail where history was not told very fairly: in Seodaemun Prison, you learn a lot about the atrocities committed under the Japanese occupation, but nothing about who was jailed there for which reason in the decades that followed.

History is like a parking lot: crimes are more likely to rehappen wherever you forget to put light, and even more likely where you decide to do so.

There is no other way of defusing the rising tensions across Asia, and particularly between Japan, Korea, and China, three countries about to officialize their FTA (Free Thrashing Agreement). And I seize the opportunity to thank the Korea Herald for publishing my answer to the recent Herald Voice question "How can N.E. Asia improve relations?" (20120827):

"Expose the imposters: hate mongers who feed upon each other, pseudo-nationalists who actually undermine their own nations, people who demand justice abroad but deny it at home. How can Japanese extremists at the same time suggest the ICJ for Dokdo and elude justice for comfort women? How can Chinese extremists at the same time claim islands and distort the whole region’s history and geography? How can Korean extremists demand justice from Japan and deny justice to their own people by terminating the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and revising dictatorship eras?"

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* among other French 'niceties' in Cambodia: the country used to be a French protectorate until 1953 (except between 1941 and 1945, when it was occupied by... Japan!), and Pol Pot received his ideological training in Paris.

** Park Chung-hee's regime has been repainted pink ever since his daughter entered the presidential race as "the best possible choice".

KTX coast to coast Incheon-Gangneung

It was part of the Pyeongchang 2018 bid but now that's official: the KTX Incheon airport line will be prolonged all the way to Gangneung by 2015, connecting key entry points (ICN, Seoul) to the future olympic venues and the East Sea. A major milestone for a national network in permanent development for conventional as well as high speed lines.

Historically, Korean railways followed the Seoul-Busan axis: the Gyeongbu Line and Jungang Line are basically Nortwest-Southeast parallels, the former starting from Seoul Station and the latter from Cheongnyangni (two multimodal hubs about to be more closely connected in the future).

The KTX dramatically shrunk distances, and now Daejeon competes with Daegu as the main hub between the capital and Busan because it lies at the intersection of the KTX Gyeongbu Line (Seoul-Busan 2h10)and the Honam Line (Seoul-Mokpo 1h46). Initially planned for 2014, Seoul-Gangneung is expected to take 1h39, largely within the goal set by railway authorities for all intra-korean lines (two hours maximum).

The Incheon Airport KTX line (not to be confused with the AREX - "AREX on time for Seoul - Gimpo - Incheon" - even if it shares the infrastructure) reaches Wonju West station in Gangwon-do, with 5 stops in between:
- Susaek (Gyeongui Line, close to the DMC and Subway Line 6) in Susaek-dong, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul
- Yongsan (other KTX lines, Jungang Line, and Subway Line 1) in Hangangno 3-ga, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
- Cheongnyangni (Jungang Line, Gyeongwon Line) in Jeonnong-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul
- Mangu (Gyeongchun Line, Jungang Line, Subway Line 1) in Sangbong-dong, Jungnang-gu, Seoul
- Yongmun (Jungang Line) in Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do

The old Wonju Station being also on Jungang Line, this is basically an AREX-Jungang combo.

The Wonju-Gangneung extension will connect the two cities that gave their name to the Gangwon-do province when it was founded in 1395 (GANGneung + WONju = GANGWON). Wonju remained the capital for centuries but now Chuncheon rules: it claims 1.4 mn souls compared to 310,000 for Wonju and 230,000 for Gangneung.

Only two stops are scheduled between WON and GANG: Pyeongchang and Daegwallyeong, both in Pyeongchang-gun. Daegwallyeong is famous for the Daegwallyeong Sheep Farm, but two major olympic venues are located in this myeon: Alpensia and Yongpyong resorts.

When I think that driving to Yongpyong took us 6 hours back in 1992, if we were smart enough to leave Seoul before 6 AM to avoid the traffic on the old road... infrastructures have so much improved over the past two decades!

Well. Not all infrastructures proved successful. This new KTX line looks like another nail in Yangyang International Airport's coffin: that's by far the closest one to Pyeongchang as the crow flies, and it's quite ok (yours truly used it back in 2002), but it's a commercial flop and totally desert except for the occasional charter flight.

Even on steroids, a crow cannot beat a KTX.

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Seoul-Incheon canal

Since his reelection (see "OH Se-hoon V2.0"), the Mayor of Seoul has been constantly struggling with an opposition-dominated city council*.

The mother of all battles ? School meals : the DP voted to make them free for all elementary school students regardless of familial revenues, but OH wanted a fairer welfare system redistributing more to the poor. Note that in France, political parties opposing free meals for all are generally left leaning, but Korea is obviously a different story. Anyway, to undo the change, the Mayor collected 800,000 signatures from Seoul citizens, well over the 400,000 or so needed. Still, he's now ready to jeopardize his political future in a referendum on the issue.

But officially, OH Se-hoon is less interested in the road to Cheong Wa Dae than in the Seoul-Incheon canal, a new battlefield for which he is even willing to end his boycott of city council meetings.

Officially called Gyeongin Canal, the project connects Incheon with Gimpo, but OH wants boats to continue all the way to Yeouido, where he plans to build a port (bridges also have to be renovated in the process). In his words : the government already set the table, Seoul just has to put its own dishes to enjoy the meal.

What's on the menu ? Among other delicacies, cruise ships loaded with Chinese tourists. Increasingly hopping from hub to hub across the whole region (Incheon, Busan, Fukuoka...), they don't pay hotel rooms, but can be taxed for each night... Freight also represents a big business, and road traffic between the Port of Incheon and the Capital could be considerably reduced.

Incheon (then Jemulpo) was chosen for good reasons : it's the perfect landing spot, and not just for McArthur. If you take a map, the Han river reaches the Yellow Sea near Ganghwa island following a trickier path and furthermore, it is now the frontier with North Korea (these days, you never know who's shooting whom in this area).

You've probably already seen the Gyeongin Canal on the way from or to Incheon Airport : that's the huge construction site parallel to the highway (North). The project was stalled for years but has been revived about two years ago, when the Four Great Rivers project gained momentum. And like with the whole Sa Dae Gang project, the environmental debate is far from over.

But even if this project happens to fold, you can always ride a boat for just KRW 4,000 per hour in the recently inaugurated Seoul Marina. Or join Mangwon Hangang Park by ferry with your bike for just KRW 1,000.

Hey, Hangang Renaissance is not just hype after all.

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* not always for the worse - I'm glad some of his pet projects were axed : see "The fastuous and the furious : trimming down Seoul city's most embarrassing projects"

KAL receives its first Airbus A380

Korean Air unveiled its first A380, and the initial commercial flight is scheduled for 9:10 AM on June 17, 2011, as flight KE380 between ICN and NRT (Incheon and Narita).

A dedicated website has been inaugurated (a380.koreanair.com), but there's not so much about the inside of the plane. All I know is that is will seat 407, much less than the 5 former A380 clients... which should mean special perks for the most expensive seats, and not just the "Kosmo Suites" and "Prestige Sleeper Seats" already presented :




Come on: they're hiding stuff in this movie. Where's the bar ? The jacuzzi ? The screen golf ? The noraebang ? The gimchi spa ?

Okay okay. I hope it won't be as bad as the most extravagant and tasteless plane I ever visited (back in the 80s at the Bourget fair) : an ATR42 sold to petrodollar kings with a window-to-window bed big enough to host a whole harem and golden faucets in the bathroom... sorry I need a barf bag (excellence in fright).

What strikes me most is how, instead of serving long hauls, the giant carrier will first target frequent flyers and business travelers between both capitals. Always that fierce competition for the regional hub...

So I'll have to wait for a direct Paris-Seoul on this big fat bird ripe for Thanksgiving (Emirates does flies one on the Seoul-Dubai route).

(update 201105: the commercial)


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AREX on time for Seoul - Gimpo - Incheon

Three years after the first section between Incheon and Gimpo airports, the second section of AREX (Korail Airport Railroad) will open on schedule next December 29, putting Incheon Airport 43 mns away from Seoul Station*, where travellers will be able to check in, leaving only passport and security checks to ICN.

The reasons why a rail connection was not built from day one were not only financial : the focus on road traffic (dedicated expressway, taxis) was meant to facilitate the emergence of a(n economically) sustainable ecosystem around the new airport.

Incheon International Airport will turn 10 in 2011. It already proved a total success as a regional hub for Northeast Asia as well as for its quality of service. Over the past twelve months, ICN managed an average 579 aircraft movements (+6.2%) and 90,098 passenger movements (+17.1%) every day**, and its capacity will be boosted from 44 to 62 million passengers by 2015, and 100 millions by 2020.

On the way to Gimpo Airport station (already operational, also on subway lines 5 and 9), Seoul will open 4 new AREX stations : Seoul Station, Gongdeok, Hongik University, and DMC :



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* that's for premium fares (no stopover, designated seats, KRW 13,300), or 53 mn if the train stops at each station (KRW 5,000).
** airport stats Nov 2009-Oct 2010 (vs Nov 2008-Oct 2009)

ICN : simplified immigration procedures for (some) foreigners

Welcome to Incheon International Airport : no queuing, no question asked, you just have your passport and fingerprints scanned by a machine and voila, you're in or out of Korea. This VIP concept has been provided to Korean citizens but not to foreigners, but that's about to change.

Not for everyone though : to qualify, you have to have enjoyed a permanent residency status for at least 3 years, but that can be lowered to 1 year if you have invested USD 2 M or more into the country.

The Ministry of Justice estimates at 1,300 the number of beneficiaries, but didn't give details about how the new measure will be implemented (ie will the lucky ones be notified or will they have to claim some document at their immigration office ?).

Yesterday, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance announced another kind of simplification for foreign residents as of next year : the possibility to opt for a 15% flat tax rate. Also : more tax incentives for each employee hired through FDI (KRW 10 M).

The relevant administrations shall be briefed soon regarding all those updates. Remember that as a foreign resident in Seoul, you only need to know one number for all questions regarding immigration, tax, and everyday issues : Dasan 120 for the Seoul Global Center.

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A World Cup Bridge for 2015

Just kicked off : the construction of the World Cup Bridge (월드컵대교) on the Hangang, between Mapo-gu (North) and Yeongdeungpo-gu (South), and between Seongsan Bridge (East) and Gayang Bridge (West).

This 30.7 x 1,980 m shoot will prolong Jeungsanno, a road that cut between World Cup Stadium and World Cup Park, so now you get an idea where the name of the bridge comes from.

The name of Jeungsanno comes from its mountain of origin : Jeungsan, in Jeungsan-dong, Eunpyeong-gu (it continues even further Northwards as Yeonseono). The road follows a stream, Bulgwancheon, and Subway Line 6 until Susaek Station, now the new Digital Media City. A few hectometers were added when the stadium and parc were built, but Jeungsanno stopped right in front of the Han river, waiting for a bridge to come : a big diving board hovering over the main entrance to Seoul from Incheon Airport (Gangbyeonbukno highway), and Nanji-Jigu riverside park.

On the other side, World Cup Bridge will land in Yeongdeungpo-gu in Yanghwa-dong, with a branch stretching Eastwards to Yangpyeong-dong, where traffic will merge with that from Seongsan Bridge on the way to the Seobu / Western Expressway (서부간선도로). Another branch will go Eastwards, cross Anyangcheon, and reach Gangseo-gu at Yeomchang-dong, where it will join another major axis : the road to Gimpo Airport, Gonghangno ("airport road").

If you're lost with all those gus, dongs, and cheons, the big picture :
- the World Cup Bridge will be delivered in 2015, and cost KRW 334.5 bn
- a lot of traffic will be diverted from Seongsan Bridge, easing the way from Gimpo and Incheon to the World Cup Stadium, DMC, and Eunpyeong.
- more asphalt loops and noodles ? you betcha. Cars still rule, but this new bridge does include bike lanes.


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ICN Volcano Resort

Already regularly praised as a world leading airport for its quality of service, Incheon Airport coped remarkably well with traffic disruptions due to the icelandic volcano.

With the help of seven embassies, it took great care of 250 European passengers who couldn't travel back home : free food and beverage coupons, entertainment, comprehensive healthcare, and even massages... our Robinsons could definitely have landed in a less welcoming island, and many were moved by the effort, particularly after watching news of the madness reigning in all airports worldwide.

No airport could be held responsible for what happened, but this one surely acted responsibly.

And wisely : it probably gained 250 new embassadors, who will share their very positive opinion on Korean hospitality whenever they experience discomfort on the go.

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Korean Cuisine Aiming At World's Top Five. China is watching.

It's only a matter of time : Korean cuisine will be recognized as one of the World's favorite. Tasting is believing !

The question is : will this ineluctable success benefit Korea itself, or a rival ? It depends on how smartly and swiftly the Government acts.




1) At last, the Korean Government means business... but it's not the only one !

Yesterday, a "Korean Cuisine To The World 2009" meeting in Seoul set interesting guidelines :

• ambitious targets : Korea aims at the Top 5 of World Cuisines, the number of Korean restaurants overseas must jump from 10,000 to 40,000 between 2007 and 2017, and food export must more than double within the next 3 years
• significant means to reach the targets : a financial boost (KRW 50 bn by 2013 - that's around USD 38 M), a political boost (Food Service Industry Promotion Bill), international partnerships (ie with such international cuisine schools as Le Cordon Bleu)...

There was already some buzz about this project last year, but yesterday's event generated even more articles in the press. In Korea, but also in China, via the Xinhua News Agency*.

Just a reminder : Beijing monitors very closely the way Korean culture is spreading. Hardly a surprise when you consider the way the Middle Kingdom is claiming key Korean heritages (ie revisionism about Goguryeo). And this is potentially big business, so I wouldn't be surprised if the first global franchise of Korean restaurants came from China... filling the gap globally the way Japanese did locally in Paris (ie the Japanese family behind "Korean Barbecue" restaurants).

By the way : Japan is also very much aware of the competitive threat, since a person in charge of promoting Japanese food was invited yesterday.

I'm not sure the Korean Government is fully aware of all the consequences of this show:

• there is no such thing as a top 5 - all cuisines are equally the best ones!
• this doesn't have to be a war, and I hope Korea will not play the traditional, counterproductive, nationalistic, us-vs-them tune... but announcing a presence in the Top 5 can be perceived as a declaration of war : as a collateral damage, it means that another will have to step down
• before Korean cuisine gets the attention it deserves, its promoters surely got the attention from their direct competitors
• as a consequence, Korea cannot afford to waste time and must act swiftly... and responsibly. Typically, Korea cannot let direct competitors attend every strategic meeting.

2) If Korea can be confident in its strenghts, it must also get ready for serious competition !

I hate to mention marketing about food, but let's face it : a big effort has to be done at the conceptual level before going operational. Starting with positioning.

Surveys and benchmarks are probably being waged in major markets, but just in case, here's my pitch.

The World has already clear images of other major cuisines... or rather caricatures and clichés : spicy Thai for instance, or healthy and natural Japanese. Except maybe for the ultradiverse Chinese cuisine and the sometimes too cryptic French menus, most people generally have only a few dishes in mind : sometimes close to the original stuff (ie Tom Yum, sushi), sometimes distant parents (ie a tragedy for Italian cuisine - totally eclipsed by American caricatures of pizza and pastas !).

People with some knowledge of Korean food will probably mention gimchi, bulgogi, maybe bibimpap and doenjang jjigae. And that's a rather good start. There is overall a reputation of rather hot and spicy stuff, but not a clear and positive positioning shared by the masses.

If I were to select 3 words to qualify Korean cuisine's major assets, I'd pick taste, diversity, and intensity.

Korean cuisine is more diverse than what people think, but the same can be said about almost every cuisine across the world. Yet, every promotion campaign keeps hammering this evidence because it is a most vital message to get through : no one should feel excluded, think "this not for me".

You want to try Korean food with friends, and it could even become a sales pitch for young urban targets : unlike with most rivals, there's always a solution at hand for a meat lover, a vegetarian, a fine palate, or say a fire eater. If you don't know Korean food, no problem, most restaurants propose the 4-5 stars that will satisfy all types of gourmets. Just give it a try... and spread the word around !

To me, the stimulating taste / intensity combo is clearly distinctive of Korean cuisine. Eating is living, eating with friends is a lively experience, Korean food is alive, and can be very much kicking thank you.

There are some dull dishes like everywhere else but essentially, it's always been about making the most of scarce ressources, about mixing and giving ingredients a character. Not just selecting the best ingredients, but composing powerful and often rich notes. There are fantastic regional specialities in China, but in Korea, even star dishes keep their intensity, and they simply cannot go with a dilluting MSG sauce. Here, feeding someone is making a statement, and no Korean restaurant can survive over one month if it doesn't taste good.

This major constraint is a clear opportunity, particularily when you see bland pseudo-Japanese sushi bars popping out everywhere across the globe, paradoxically weakening the image of Japanese cuisine, almost commoditizing it.

Among the Top 5, I've already spotted Japan as the weak link in these pages (See Seoul Village - The Gaon 2004) :

"The reputation of Korean cuisine should normally surpass that of Japanese cuisine within 15 to 20 years. Koreans clearly don't play in the same league and the Japanese know it (they adore Korean food). They can fool Westerners with their sense of presentation but as soon as the public tastes actual Korean cuisine, the game is over - for good.
Unfortunately, up to now no Korean restaurant could really visually match their
cuisine, but for some prestigious places embalmed in the cult of Tradition (...)"
(NB : then Gaon came and - gasp - passed away)

Don't get me wrong : I really enjoy Japanese cuisine. But good sushi and sashimi are rare and expensive, and very few restaurants overseas offer great Japanese food beyond the basic hits.

Note that with Korean basic hits, you can please a much wider and much more diverse audience. Bonus : for a very competitive ticket. My advice ? Never underestimate doenjang jjigae. Not the most glamorous dish, but a unique, fantastic and complex taste that surprises many westerners. The best pedagogy will come from those who are already in the know.

Korea is obviously benchmarking Thailand and Japan : both countries launched massive campaigns and multiplied restaurants overseas. OK for some pedagogy and standardization of names (at last!), but if the result is 40,000 places as terrible as the standard sushi joints created over the past few years, forget it : the main result was a worldwide eradication of sea fishes, and the long term annihilation of Japanese cuisine identity.

Consider Paris : "Japanese" restaurants (mostly held by Chinese citizens) have become a cheap commodity, but they all propose the same menu, the same decor, the same limited experience. This fad just can't last. Chinese take outs are legion, but they offer a much richer variety. On the other hand, Japan provides some precious support : food quality control, pedagogic leaflets, waiters with a clean shirt and a smile... That makes a difference at the customer level : you won't meet an outdated fish there, but you'll often bump into sour pork at a "traiteur Chinois".

Developping a labeling system for all kinds of Korean restaurants, pooling some resources in major cities, developping some local farming support, making sure all can provide fresh ketnip (wild sesame leaves)...

Promoting Korean cuisine shouldn't be about imposing a new ruler but about heralding diversity and the return of tasty food. Yes you will eat well and for a reasonable price, but you will keep coming back because you enjoy it.


3) But first of all, Korea must think and act as a member of the Top 5
If you read the press, Koreans lie at the feet of the Himalaya, aiming at a place among the top summits.

That's utterly wrong : Korea is already there. The thing is that people don't know it. And the main hurdle ? Even Koreans don't seem to realise it.

It's only a matter of time, remember ?

But as it decides to claim its own heritage, and the place it deserves, Korea cannot afford to fight against itself.

The Korean Government plans to focus on major international cities, and that makes perfect sense. But only Anglo-Saxon hubs are mentioned, and it seems to me that if you want to take over Japan, China, Italy or France, you must at least strengthen your positions there. Why nurture a complex when your food is so great ? If not greater : come on, I am a French citizen and I do love French food, but I must confess that the vast majority of supposedly very good French restaurants cannot compete with a good Korean restaurant ! Every week, I enjoy moving culinary experiences in the least probable places, which seldom happens to me in Paris. And I can tell it by visitors to my websites : people in France or Italy WANT more Korean restaurants.

Furthermore, and for the zillionth time, how can you promote Korean cuisine overseas when you don't even defend it enough at home ? It saddens me to see high end Korean restaurants that are far better and cheaper than their rivals close simply because Korean customers think it's natural to pay more for Western food (see "Annus Horribilis"). Every 5 star hotel owned by a Korean chaebol should keep a top Korean restaurant : that's a key element of the international image, and subsidies could even be part of the global budget.

Meanwhile, of course, Korea should keep going on its already strong points in marketing, such as information for foreigners (websites, brochures, information centers) : special mention to "Best Korean Restaurants in Seoul" (edited yearly by Seoul City) and its mouthwatering pictures, menu samples with prices, and comments in Korean, English, Chinese, as well as in Japanese (Incheon is doing the same, with all kinds of restaurants).

I read that CJ Foodville took part in yesterday's convention and that's good news. This great company is definitely the ideal champion to develop international franchises both for the masses and for thicker wallets : they have the money, the structure, and even a Hankook Academy to leverage on. Besides, Cafe Sobahn is a promising concept : sound food, revisiting a classic (bibimpap) with a touch of innovation, a modern and not too hype atmosphere.

But CJ will probably have to develop more brands to complete an international Korean cuisine platform. Unfortunately, even for such a big player, it's virtually impossible to build a truly generalist Korean chain in Korea, by essence the most competitive market : every concept sees three me-too products pop up the following week, and margins are so low that only "foreign" food franchises can sell at not too low a price. CJ impressive roster sums it all : VIPS (US style steak and salad family restaurant), Cold Stone (US style ice creams), The Place (American-Italian), Tous les Jours ("French" bakery), China Factory (!!!), and the excellent After The Rain (Thai restaurants in Jeongno-gu and Gangnam)... I guess Seafood Ocean is also a viable business model because of their purchasing power on premium food but there again, this is not "typical Korean".

Where to start, then ? To my great disapointment, a major opportunity was missed at Incheon International Airport, the ultimate entry point for foreigners, and the ideal platform to test a global concept. The result ? Welly's, a terrible brand and a non-concept if I ever saw one. It shouldn't be difficult to do better.

Do aim high but please, don't start too low !

Korea must succeed because Korean cuisine and the Korean people deserve it.


* for instance "Localization key to globalizing Korean food" (The Korea Herald - 20090408), "Korean Cuisine Seeks To Globalize" (Joongang Daily - 20090408), "S Korean gov't to invest $38.1 mln in food industry" (ChinaView - 20090407)...