hankyoreh

” a new multipurpose cultural facility by Korean Air to be located in central Seoul

Korean Air is scrapping plans to build a hotel in favor of a new multipurpose cultural facility to be located in central Seoul.

The facility, which is to be called “K-Experience,” will be a setting for experiencing prominent examples of Korean culture. The airline, which is affiliated with the Hanjin Group, had initially planned to build a hotel on the old US ambassador‘s residence, which is located next to Gyeongbok Palace in downtown Seoul’s Songhyeon neighborhood.

Meanwhile, the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul’s Songpa district is being transformed into a massive 15,000-seat K-Pop performance venue with an outdoor stage.

Culture Minister Kim Jong-deok unveiled the projects as part of its “goals and plan for cultural flourishing” for the second half of the Park Geun-hye administration at a press briefing on Aug. 18 at the Central Government Complex in Seoul. The new projects, which are being added to the administration’s existing plans for a “Cultural Creation Convergence Belt” base, are expected to usher in significant changes to the urban cultural landscape in Seoul north of the Han River.

The current plan is for the building of a four- to five-story multipurpose cultural center with three underground levels in the old embassy residence site as a single-stage construction effort through 2017. Costs for construction are to be paid by the Hanjin Group, which owns the site, with other cultural bases being built around it at different stages in conjunction with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The new facility is to be made into a high-tech culture hub spatially linked with traditional cultural content in surrounding areas - including Gyeongbok Palace, the Insa-dong neighborhood, and Bukchon Hanok Village of traditional Korean houses- to form a large cultural convergence belt in Seoul’s Bukchon area.

“Rather than building new accommodations, we will be turning the entire site into a cultural center where visitors can experience the full range of traditional arts and Korean culture,” said Korean Air executive director Cho Seong-bae, who attended the briefing.

“While the design plans still have not been decided, we intend to use Korea’s traditional aesthetic for the exterior while also building with high technology that will be capable of drawing in younger people,” Cho added.

Korean Air previously found itself in a furor over its hotel construction plans after purchasing the Songhyeon site in 2008. Critics at the time argued the new structure would be disruptive to the educational environment with nearby Pungmoon Girls’ High School and Duksung Girls’ Middle School.

The Culture Ministry also announced plans to convert the Olympic Gymnastics Arena into an outdoor K-Pop venue. The site has already been used in the past as a venue for popular musicians from South Korea and abroad.

“The Gymnastics Area is currently the largest of South Korea‘s indoor concert venues, and our plan is to remodel it into a 15,000-seat arena by 2017,” said Kim Jong-deok.

Administration plans to build a “K-Culture Valley” venue in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, were canceled.

By Nok Hyung-seok, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]