Is Universal Studios Korea Back From The Dead?

It appears as though the long planned, and in recent years assumed to be left for dead, Universal Studios Korea is back in the mix, according to recent news.  The theme park was originally announced in 2007 with an opening date of 2012, however the global financial crisis spun the project into delays.  As the years went by a delayed opening was discussed, until 2014 when it was revealed that many of the investors had pulled out from state-run Korea Water Resources Corporation who was heading the project.

Now K-Water, as the corporation is known, has chosen a new consortium of investors, including Daewoo Engineering, Dohwa Engineering, China State Construction Engineering Corp, and China Travel Services out of Hong Kong.

As originally planned, the park will reside in Hwaseong, less than 40 miles south of Seoul, and the investment is now stated to be over $4 billion.  A new planned opening date of 2020 has been released.

This is some concept art of Universal Studios Korea which was released back in 2007, showing the theme park and many of its attractions.  At the time many existing Universal Studios attractions would have been added to the park, including a dueling roller coaster, a Hulk-style launched coaster by the central lagoon and a Jurassic Park area.  I'm sure it can be counted on that the park will now be heavily redesigned and different from this art considering how many years have gone by.

Here is one more old piece of concept art, showing the entire development that would surround the Universal Studios Korea park.  It included a water park, several hotels and other amenities.  This current plan still calls for many of these attractions, including the hotels, a "pop concert arena," golf resort, water park and shopping facilities.

Personally I think the more Universal Studios parks on Earth the better, so hopefully the development of this park will continue to move forward!