S.M. Entertainment, one of the largest South Korean entertainment companies, plans to build an ‘SM Cultural Complex’ in Changwon. (image: Wikimedia)
SEOUL, June 21 (Korea Bizwire) – S.M. Entertainment, one of the largest South Korean entertainment companies, plans to build an ‘SM Cultural Complex’ in Changwon, the capital city of South Gyeongsang Province.
Ahn Sang-soo, the mayor of Changwon, held a press conference at Changwon City Hall’s Press Center on Tuesday June 21 to announce the development plans for the cultural complex.
According to Ahn, a consortium consisting of S.M. Entertainment and some of the top construction companies in Korea will participate in the project, which will consist of a cultural complex and a public parking facility. After the completion of the project, the consortium will donate the complex to the city in the form of a contributed acceptance, while maintaining responsibility for its management.
Changwon will provide the consortium with property near Changwon Bus Terminal in Palyong-dong, Uichang-gu.
S.M. Entertainment will invest 101 billion won to build a cultural complex with nine stories above ground and four below, and a public parking facility that can accommodate 506 vehicles.
The first underground floor will hold retail shops based on celebrity marketing, while the first to third floors above ground will hold Hallyu experience studios and stores selling celebrity-related products. The fourth and fifth floors will hold a hologram auditorium with 840 seats, and the sixth and seventh floors will have convention facilities.
The eighth and ninth floors will feature a boutique hotel.
Changwon and S.M. Entertainment will organize a “K-Pop Tour Package” where foreign visitors will have the chance to experience Hallyu culture and tour the Changwon area, once the cultural complex is completed.
In addition, an audition preparation and training program will begin in collaboration with the “K-Pop World Festival”, which is held every fall in Changwon. S.M. Entertainment decided that Changwon is the perfect city for building a new Hallyu cultural complex due to its proximity to Gimhae International Airport and the K-Pop World Festival, which attracts thousands of K-Pop fans from all around the world every year.
Super Junior at K-Pop World Festival in 2013 (image: Flickr/ Republic of Korea)
S.M. Entertainment recently opened a cultural complex called ‘SM Town’ at Coex Mall in Seoul’s Samseong-dong last January to provide different kinds of Hallyu content to foreign visitors.
Lee Soo-man, the executive producer of S.M. Entertainment, visited Changwon’s city hall with company executives to meet with mayor Ahn last May.
By Nonnie Kim (nkim@koreabizwire.com)
