DMC aims at Tinseltown - welcome to Hallyuwood !

In L.A., ex-Gobernator Schwarzie is willing to get back to the studios. In Seoul, the D.M.C. is flexing its own muscles, aiming at global stardom in the movie industry.

We've already seen how committed the city is to transforming this former foresaken area into the country's media mecca ("Seoul Digital Media City tour"). The next steps are already considered and by 2014, the DMC wants to become Asia's Hollywood (or rather Hallyuwood). OH Se-hoon obviously made the most of his recent trip in Los Angeles, where Seoul also signed a MOU for green development (BTW electric vehicles and OLEV technology will also be implemented in the DMC).

KRW 170 bn will be injected into this second phase, adding to the already ambitious master plan (570,000 sqm) the space liberated by an oil storage complex (35,000 sqm) and a driver's license test site (65,000 sqm). If you take the map of our previous focus, the "T" of the DMC will turn into some kind of a fat "M" with the test site under the Western bar (at the corner of Guryongro and Namjido-gil), and the oil complex under the Eastern bar (at the corner of Namjido-gil and Jeungsanro, facing the World Cup Stadium).

The driver's license test center will be transformed into "Seoul Culture Contents Center", some kind of a Universal Studio Seoul urban thema park with a strong focus on virtual reality and 3D. By 2013, DMC 2.0 will boast the world's largest CG complex and propose the complete value chain to movie makers : the capital is already becoming an international magnet but until now, the DMC was more specialized into pre-prod than post-production. Beyond new infrastructures for the whole movie / multimedia industries, Seoul wants to build the equivalent to LA Live, the huge complex operated by AEG on West Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles, complete with residences, hotels, and a shopping center. Of course, spas are also in the program.

Decades after deserting Chungmuro for Gangnam, Korea's movie stars could be moving back in greater numbers to the other side of the Han river.

Seoul Village 2011

Universal Studios Korea in Hwaseong

Universal Parks and Resorts will open its sixth and biggest park in Songsan Green City (Songsan-myeon, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do), just opposite China and South of Incheon, its international airport closer than ever since the opening of the new bridge.

As usually the case in such projects, the theme park is only part of a huge real estate project, complete with golf, hotels, outlets, and condos. But 4.3 M square meters is really massive. There will be a water park and a CityWalk similar to the Universal Studios Hollywood concept. Steven Spielberg will apply his own label, very much the Jack Nicklaus way (his version of "War of the Worlds" has a spot in USH as well).

Construction starts in March and the park should be inaugurated in 2014, two years behind the initial schedule (announced in 2007), and one after the Marvel Entertainment theme park planned in Busan (see "Beefing up Korea").

Along with its partners Lotte Group (26.7% via Lotte Asset Development) and POSCO Engineering & Construction (24.4%), Universal's Korean unit USKOR & Associates Co. added a dozen investors to the financing pool. The project is expected to cost USD 2.7 bn and the initial capital to reach USD 400 M. Not necessarily direct foreign investment, but a potential magnet for the whole region.

Highway 15 is bound to bring the bulk of the traffic from Incheon and Seoul, but the Sihwa sea dike may see part of the flow reach Songsan via Ansan and Daebudo. Southwestern Gyeonggi-do tourism should get a big boost, so let's hope seashores and nice areas will be preserved. Local authorities should watch for over development, and preserve the identity of the area beyond the park to really make a difference.

It's good for business to open such a franchise, but it's better if visitors can tell this difference from Hollywood, Orlando, Osaka, Dubai or Singapore.

Seoul Village 2010