Lee Approves Leisure Complex in Saemangeum

The construction of a leisure complex will begin in 2010 on the 660,000 square meter lot of the tide embankment connecting Sinsi Island, the western tip of the Saemangeum tideland, to Yami Island. A high-rise landmark will also be built in Sinsi Island, topping the 468-meter-tall Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, China.

In an interview with the Dong-A Ilbo on Sunday, Kang Hyun-wook, head of the Saemangeum development task force under the presidential transition committee, said, “President-elect Lee Myung-bak responded positively on the plan when I briefed him on the development plan for the land between Sinsi Island and Yami Island on January 16.”

Roads are being built now as the construction of the Sinsi Island–Yami Island embankment is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2009. Some 66 hectares of land around the embankment has already emerged above the surface of the water, and a total of 230 hectares of land is expected to be reclaimed by the end of 2009. Development can be expedited in that area since it is classified as the annexed land of the embankment, which is under a different categorization from the inner reclaimed land of Saemangeum, involving numerous administrative procedures.

"Although some 5 million tourists are estimated to visit (Saemangeum) each year once the world’s longest tide embankment of 33 kilometers is completed, there is no place for tourists to eat or take a rest,” Kang said. “A variety of amenities, such as a large aquarium and a museum, will be established for tourists.”

On the tentatively named “Saemangeum Tower,” which will be built in Sinsi Island, Kang said, “We plan to build an edifice taller than the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, by attracting private and foreign capital.”

The president-elect also approved the following plans that the Saemangeum development task force has briefed: the usage of sand from the Geum River in reclaiming the Saemangeum site, the construction of a new port on Gogunsan Islands and the construction of an international airport in Saemangeum in the long term.