Hajungdo Island, a site for Legoland Korea, in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. (Yonhap)
CHUNCHEON, Jan. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — British-based Merlin Entertainments, the operator of Legoland, recently announced an agreement with South Korea’s Gangwon provincial government on the construction of the world’s 10th Legoland in the province.
Legoland Korea will be built on the island of Hajungdo in Chuncheon, 85 kilometers east of Seoul, to open by 2022, Merlin said in a notice posted on its homepage on Jan. 7.
“The total cost of the resort is expected to be 290 billion won (US$259 million). Merlin will invest 210 billion won in the development of the resort, which will be fully owned and operated by Merlin,” the notice said.
The remaining 80 billion won will be covered by LL Developments, an investment arm of the province, it said.
Meanwhile, the agreement is different from the one previously signed between the two sides in terms of investment allocation and the park’s opening time, a government official said Tuesday.
In the previous accord, Merlin was to invest 220 billion won, and the resort spanning 1.3 million square meters was scheduled to open in July 2021, according to the official.
“We’ve asked Merlin to correct the differences,” the official said, adding, “But the work to build the theme park will start in March as scheduled.”
(Yonhap)
