Go to contents

Korea’s tallest observation deck to be built next year

Korea’s tallest observation deck to be built next year

Posted February. 10, 2017 07:23,   

Updated February. 10, 2017 07:29

한국어
The City Tower (bird’s eye view) in Cheongna International City in Incheon, which will be the tallest tower in Korea, has been resumed in a decade since the launch of the project. The 448-meter tower is expected to be a landmark building in the international city where you can see Kaesong in North Korea on a clear day

Korea Land and Housing Corporation and the Incheon Free Economic Zone said on Thursday that they will sign an MOU with the Cheongna City Tower consortium, a private developer, on Friday for the construction project of an observation deck and commercial facilities.

The project will have a 448-meter skyscraper and shopping and cultural facilities on 33,058 square meters in the center of the Cheongna Lake Park. It is a public-private partnership project with Korea Land and Housing Corporation funding around 300 billion won (263.62 million dollars) for the tower and the private developer investing around 100 billion won (87.8 million dollars) for commercial facilities. While the project was launched in 2007, it had difficulty in finding a developer and eventually found one in a decade. The construction will begin in Feb. next year with an aim to complete it by 2022.

Once completed, it will be the sixth tallest tower following the Tokyo Skytree (634 meters) in Japan and the Canton Tower (610 meters) in Guangzhou. It will be twice taller than the Namsan Tower (236.7 meters) in Korea and the tallest observation deck in Korea. It will be the third tallest building in Korea following the planned Global Business Center (569 meters) of Hyundai Motor in the Gangnam district in Seoul and the Lotte World Tower (555 meters) in southeastern Seoul, which will open in April.

The exterior of the City Tower will have an image of sparkling crystals with a concept of “Cheongna, the bluish jewel of the world.” It will use an exterior technology based on the reflection and refraction of light so that the exterior can go transparent and disappear magically. It will showcase a “media facade” with the entire tower turning into a super large screen at night.

“With the signing of the MOU and the selection of the developer, we laid the foundation for the successful development of the City Tower Project, which is hoped by many Cheongna residents,” said Lee Wan-cheol, head of the City Tower task force, of Korea Land and Housing Corporation. “It will serve as the landmark of Cheongna and a global tourist destination.”



Jae-Young Kim redfoot@donga.com