Paramount Park Korea
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Shinsegae Group has confirmed on the 13th that it has entered into legal proceedings against Korea Water Resources Corporation after the project for the Gyeonggi Hwaseong International Theme Park complex development (Star Bay City), in which it is investing 4.6 trillion won, is at risk of being canceled due to the imposition of compensation fees by Korea Water Resources Corporation.

According to the retail industry, Shinsegae Property, a subsidiary of Emart, along with Shinsegae Engineering & Construction, recently filed a lawsuit against the imposition of compensation fees by Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water) in the Seoul Central District Court. The suit seeks to reset the construction deadline to prevent K-water from imposing the compensation fees.

Earlier, K-water notified Shinsegae that it would impose a daily compensation fee of 15.5 million won for delaying the commencement of the Hwaseong theme park project. The total amount of compensation reaches 5.66 billion won annually. According to the public offering guidelines, Shinsegae must pay the compensation fees if it has not begun construction on the main purpose facilities by March 18 of this year, as the area has not even begun initial work due to delays in designating it as a tourism zone and other permitting procedures.

The delays in the permitting process stem from suspicions that Shinsegae purchased the business site from K-water at a bargain price, prompting an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection. The Board began its audit of K-water in October 2021 and discovered that it had assessed the market value of the business site at nearly half its true worth, resulting in a sale price (3.256 billion won) based on that undervalued appraisal. The Board determined that K-water had violated public offering guidelines and granted undue benefits to Shinsegae, leading to the disciplinary action of three K-water employees.

Currently, the city of Hwaseong has submitted an application for designation as a tourism zone to Gyeonggi Province, and the review is underway. It is expected that completing the administrative procedures will take more than a year. If construction begins in the second half of next year as planned by Shinsegae, the compensation fees will exceed 10 billion won.

K-water is planning to terminate the land lease contract in accordance with public offering guidelines if Shinsegae fails to pay the compensation fees. If the contract is rescinded, a deposit of 32.56 billion won, which corresponds to 10% of the land sale price for the tourism and leisure site, will be forfeited to K-water, and the business agreement between the two companies will also be automatically terminated.

Shinsegae filed a lawsuit to cancel the imposition of the compensation fees, stating that it cannot accept such a decision. The company asserts that the Hwaseong theme park project is progressing smoothly under a separate agreement with K-water, thus there has been no delay in construction. The company also noted that the unavoidable delays in construction were due to the prolonged audit by the Board.

However, industry insiders believe that Shinsegae will not abandon the project due to the compensation fee issue. The Hwaseong theme park project, which amounts to 4.6 trillion won, is a signature project of Chairman Chung Yong-jin and a key new business for the group. The retail sector, which is Shinsegae's main business, is struggling against e-commerce companies like Coupang, making a breakthrough necessary. Additionally, the rapid increase in land value due to development issues makes it difficult for Shinsegae to divest from the project.

Shinsegae Property and Shinsegae Engineering & Construction, leading this project, established a joint venture named Shinsegae Hwaseong in September 2020 and injected 198.5 billion won through seven rounds of paid-in capital increases from December of that year to March of this year. This large-scale project contract is also necessary for securing funds to navigate the liquidity crisis faced by Shinsegae Engineering & Construction.

A Shinsegae representative noted, "It is correct that we filed a lawsuit to reset the construction deadline," adding, "We are communicating smoothly with K-water and have no problems with the permitting process. The project is proceeding well." However, K-water postponed its response, stating that confirmation on the matter is needed.

The business site is located in the reclaimed area of Songsan Green City in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. The project involves creating a complex that incorporates a theme park, water park, Starfield, golf course, hotel, resort, and residential buildings over a site of 1.27 million pyeong (approximately 4.2 million square meters).

Shinsegae formed a consortium in 2019 and was selected as the preferred bidder for this project. Last October, it attracted the global media group "Paramount Global" as the owner of the theme park intellectual property rights (IP). The goal is to commence construction next year and open in 2029.

Source: https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-retail/2025/03/14/Y5MW6FYIF5DA3NBV2IUQT4OYKY/

In November the theme park project passed the Gyeonggi Province Urban Planning Committee's deliberation, and then just this past week the theme park was officially designated by the government as a "tourist complex". This will help to expedite future approvals and permits as the theme park planning progresses.

Sources: https://gnews.gg.go.kr/briefing/brief_gongbo_view.do?BS_CODE=S017&number=64279 and https://gnews.gg.go.kr/briefing/brief_gongbo_view.do?BS_CODE=S017&number=64120 and https://www.gg.go.kr/bbs/boardView.do?bsIdx=469&bIdx=148041286&menuId=1547

Time for Paramount attempt at least #4 at a theme park in South Korea. For this proposal, it is located at the site that was originally set to be Universal Studios in Gyeonggi Province. The developer is Shinsegae Hwaseong, a subsidiary of Shinsegae Group, and they have been attempting to build a theme park at this site for many years under the names of Hwaseong Global Theme Park and Star Bay City (https://www.shinsegaeproperty.com/en/propertysad/business/hwaseong.do). The project is estimated to cost approximately 4.57 trillion won and will be a 100% private investment. The goal is to begin construction in the first half of 2026, have the first phase open in the second half of 2029, and complete the entire theme park development after 2035.






This officially released concept art is generic placeholder and not what Paramount Park will actually look like:



The theme park development is located in the dark blue area on the map:







Sources: https://gnews.gg.go.kr/briefing/brief_gongbo_view.do?BS_CODE=S017&number=63353 and https://gnews.gg.go.kr/news/news_detail.do?number=202410101453119036C052

http://charming-cn.com/index.php?c=show&id=58

Another version of the previously released concept art with slight differences:



Source: http://rosewellentertainment.com/paramount

The Paramount theme park planned for Inspire Entertainment Resort is being reevaluated and is potentially delayed long term. Construction of the theme park was supposed to start in the first half of 2021 but now that the resort's first phase has been delayed, construction of the theme park isn't expected to start until the second half of 2023 if at all.

Sources: http://www.kyeongin.com/main/view.php?key=20210505010000994 and https://www.asgam.com/index.php/2021/05/06/opening-of-paramount-theme-park-at-mohegans-inspire-korea-resort-delayed-beyond-2025-report/