Viacom opens theme park in S. Korea

Paramount properties to be featured

By HAN SUNHEE

SEOUL -- Viacom will open a theme park in South Korea that will feature activities based on Par properties including "Mission: Impossible," "Tomb Raiders," "The Godfather" and "Titanic." Opening is scheduled for 2011.

The $1.4 billion Paramount Movie Park Korea is a joint venture between Paramount Licensing Consumer Products & Recreation Group and South Korea's Daewoo Motor Sales and will be built on reclaimed land near the Incheon airport west of Seoul.

Among the sections are the Paramount Plaza, an entertainment district integrating the studio's content with shopping and dining, a water park and Paramount Grand Hotel, which consists of two resort hotels.

Par will be the first Hollywood studio to build an amusement park in South Korea. In November, Universal Studios announced a pact with Posco Engineering & Construction to construct a $3 billion theme park south of Seoul that will bow in 2012.

Paramount Licensing will not invest in the project, but will be its licensor and take the role of managing the creative development. South Korea's Woori Bank and the U.K.'s Barclays will be in charge of finding investors and major stakeholders by October.