Legoland Korea
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There is a lot of legal action around this build now and I can't see Merlin being involved much longer. The local preservation group have begun legal action against the local government over the damage of the historical artifacts. Meanwhile, the court case of the previous governor has ended with a prison sentence for fraud and corruption in relation to the contracts building LEGOLAND.

in the press release titled 'I want to the government of Moon Jaein', punish those who illegally damaged the tombs in the middle of historical sites dismantle development of LEGOLAND, the developer of Chuncheon LEGOLAND, urged to immediately arrest Choi Kyung

Citizen organization officials accused Choi, Min-soon, Governor of Gangwon Province to the judicial authorities

Source: http://www.gwjournal.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=3331

Some more interesting news around the infrastructure but seems like less confidence in the park than ever.

In the past four years, almost all development projects in Chuncheon have used the Lego Land theme park for publicity. Officetels, hotels, apartments, even small studio rooms advertised Legoland as a universal solver. According to the real estate industry, it was claimed that it was Legoland that led the apartment sales rate in Chuncheon and led the price increase. However, as the Lego Land theme park business fell into a hurricane, Legoland disappeared from the apartment sale advertisement recently.

A senior official of the city said, "When a bridge that can not be used by Chuncheon City is damaged due to a construction vehicle or if an accident occurs, the responsibility is transferred to Chuncheon City, Is the position. According to the official, it is argued that there should be a premise that TEDA will provide all the costs to be transferred to the bridge. I have built bridges at astronomical costs, and it is a wonderful situation that the basic autonomous bodies that need bridges will not accept them.

Generally, people seem annoyed that LEGOLAND has been used to drive the construction and price increases of areas around the development but now things such as the bridge have been completed and cannot be used because they lead to nowhere. The bridge is currently closed to all traffic except for construction workers on the site.

The video shows the new bridge and surrounding areas but also talks about how local councils are arguing about the damage caused to the bridge by construction traffic as no one wants to pay the bill the construction has landed them with without the theme park.

There are two stories here but I think combined they are significant. It would seem the city is happy with the infrastructure works but doesn't care much for LEGOLAND actually being built. They seem to believe the park will fail to be built.

The Mayor of Chuncheon, Choi Dony-Yong said, "Gangwon-do requested the participation of Chuncheon in the Legoland project but they rejected it," he said at a meeting of the Happy City Chuncheon Creation Committee held on October 29th. The city is in a position to take off when the construction of roads for the city is over at the end of the year.
Choi said, "If the current method is used, the LEGOLAND business is judged to be ineffective for Chuncheon," he said. "Even if it is completed, Chuncheon should be completed after all the projects that can attract visitors are completed".

Source: http://www.chunsa.kr/?p=32917

It is expected that the Lego Land theme park project will be ineffective due to the completion of the Lego Land theme park business.

On the other hand, Chuncheon City, which does not have direct responsibility for the Legoland business, is relaxed. Whether it is a business or not, it seems like Chuncheon has nothing to lose. The city has already confirmed the route of the urban planning road which is linked to the road via the load diagram. Even if the Legoland project is stopped, there is no problem with the function of the bridge included in the urban planning road.

Source: http://www.chunsa.kr/?p=32914

The translation isn't great and the legal bits are confusing but essentially there are ongoing trials to deal with fraud and embezzlement as part of the loans secured to build LEGOLAND Korea. Does anyone know if this will impact the site?

At the trial, some of the commission fees of W5.6bn, which occurred in December 2014 when ELL Development, a developer of Lego Land business, concluded a project financing (PF) loan agreement with Korea Investment Securities for business financing

Source: http://news.joins.com/article/22071292

It looks like the issues surrounding the excavation of this site won't go away.

"The Cultural Heritage Administration of the Park Geun-hye government has tried to look at the convenience of Chuncheon LEGOLAND, not to preserve the prefectural sites," the representatives of the National Assembly said in a press conference.

They said, "If the site is found in the construction site, the construction will be stopped and the site will be determined by the subcommittee of the store." However, the Cultural Heritage Administration did not stop the excavation of Chuncheon LEGOLAND, "We have allowed the excavation (excavation to remove artifacts and dismantle tombs in order to save relics and relics before development)."

Source: http://sisa-news.com/news/article.html?no=110269

Current status from Merlin Entertainment: "Construction of bridge and key infrastructure for LEGOLAND Korea now complete; partner funding to be finalized."

Source: https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/uk/merlin_entertainment/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=692&newsid=940148

Difficultly securing funds persists...

Source: http://www.chunsa.kr/?p=29519

Can anyone help to translate the video?

Report 'Merlin' LEGO Land development project that fell into the bog after the direct investment of the company's main business ceased. With the prospect that it will not be easy to sell the surrounding land and cover the construction costs, the alternative is to find new investors.

Updated google maps from June 2017. More blue liner is down, lots of groundwork done but no building as such.





Source: Google Earth

Between these two reports, it looks to me like Merlin are only investing in the projects around the park rather than the construction of the park itself due to not wanting to get involved in local legalities. So the local procurement of investment has been left to local Gangwon Province and ELel Development to secure the funding needed to build the actual park.

This park is looking less likely each passing day...

In the meantime, officials also reported that they had an unfounded illusion that "Merlin would invest directly." Jong Jae-woong (Chuncheon, along with Democratic Party) said, "From the beginning of the project, the participants who have vested interests have avoided entry of large-scale investment and made a wall."

"From now on, it is necessary to strengthen transparency, to prevent the collapse of the Alpensia and Taebaek Otu Resort, "We need to re-check to make sure it is not a precedent for large-scale projects." Kim, Jin-Jin Chung said,

Source: http://www.kado.net/?mod=news&act=articleView&idxno=868497

According to the Legoland Support Division of Gangwon Province, Merlin Entertainment Group will hold a board of directors meeting on August 3 (UK local day) to invest KRW 165 billion including KRW 110 billion including KRW 55 billion in real estate and related hotels in Legoland theme park in Gangwon Province. 150 billion KRW The company decided not to invest in the direct construction related to the main construction due to difficulty in financing itself.

Source: http://www.wsnews.co.kr/sub_read.html?uid=42301&section=sc40&section2=