Paramount Pictures said yesterday that developers will open a theme park and resort complex in South Korea in 2011 based on Mission: Impossible, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and other movies by the studio.
Paramount Movie Park Korea will have more than 30 attractions, said Michael Corcoran, president of Paramount Pictures Corp’s consumer products and recreation group, who predicted it will draw more than 5 million visitors during its first year of operation.
“South Korea is a fast-growing and attractive market,” Corcoran told a news conference. “It’s a business-friendly market and culturally sophisticated.”
He also said the park will prove attractive to international visitors.
Plans for theme parks based on the films of Universal Studios and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in South Korea have also been announced with an eye to luring both local and international visitors, especially from nearby China.
Spearheading Paramount Movie Park Korea’s development is a joint venture led by South Korea’s Daewoo Motor Sales Corp. The formation of the venture, which will fund and own the park, was also announced yesterday.
Paramount Licensing Inc, which handles licensing rights worldwide for Paramount Pictures, is not a member of the joint venture but will manage the park’s creative development.
A licensing agreement was signed last December.
Aspects of Korean entertainment and pop culture, popular in much of Asia, will be incorporated into attractions at the park to be built in Incheon, a port city west of Seoul, officials said.
Corcoran said future plans also include the addition of a water park and two resort hotels.
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
CAUTION URGED: Xiaohongshu and Douyin — the Chinese version of TikTok — are tools the Chinese government uses for its ‘united front’ propaganda, the MAC said Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) yesterday urged people who use Chinese social media platforms to be cautious of being influenced by Beijing’s “united front” propaganda and undermining Taiwan’s sovereignty. Chiu made the remarks in response to queries about Chinese academic Zhang Weiwei (張維為) saying that as young Taiwanese are fond of interacting on Chinese app Xiaohongshu (小紅書, known as RedNote in English), “after unification with China, it would be easier to govern Taiwan than Hong Kong.” Zhang is professor of international relations at Shanghai’s Fudan University and director of its China Institute. When giving a speech at China’s Wuhan
ENHANCE DETERRENCE: Taiwan has to display ‘fierce resolve’ to defend itself for China to understand that the costs of war outweigh potential gains, Koo said Taiwan’s armed forces must reach a high level of combat readiness by 2027 to effectively deter a potential Chinese invasion, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said in an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) published yesterday. His comments came three days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the US Senate that deterring a Chinese attack on Taiwan requires making a conflict “cost more than what it’s worth.” Rubio made the remarks in response to a question about US policy on Taiwan’s defense from Republican Senator John Cornyn, who said that Chinese
RSS