by The government is attracting tourists to Korea by fostering tourism content using BTS and Netflix’s hit ‘Squid Game.’ In 2024, the privately-led, extra-large K-Pop concert hall ‘CJ Live City Arena’ will be built, so expectations for its role are high.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Minister Hwang Hee) recently held the 6th National Tourism Strategy Meeting. It confirmed the ‘Tourism industry recovery and re-jumping plan’ containing these contents. The gist of the government announcement is that it will actively utilize Hallyu content such as K-pop to promote the charm of Korea.
Regarding Live City, which was mentioned as part of that, CJ is also encouraged internally. CJ Group had entered a significant inflection point when Chairman Lee Jae-Hyun recently announced four growth engines for future innovation. In particular, about the cultural business, if the Korean Wave had been actively promoted and spread abroad before, it is trying to prepare a turning point to bring it into Korea, starting with the establishment of Live City Arena, a concert hall dedicated to K-pop.
And it is an insider opinion that Shin Hyeong-Kwan, CEO of CJ Live City, was selected as the most suitable person for the reform. After he was named the head, the arena construction project went through a full-fledged rapid along with the groundbreaking ceremony.
CJ LiveCity, which will be built on the site of Hallyu World in Janghang-dong, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, on a total area of 3264 m² (about 100,000 pyeong), is Korea’s intellectual property (IP) that encompasses various fields such as music, film, drama, and entertainment. It is expected to become a space where you can experience Korean cultural content vividly. It is targeted for completion and operation in 2024.
The arena has a total of 20,000 seats and is designed to hold extra-large performances as it can accommodate more than 40,000 people outdoors. With world-class performance facilities such as stage equipment, sound, and lighting, the stage can be installed and dismantled in one day, enabling more than 190 performances and events throughout the year.
CEO Shin Hyeong-gwan is a positional figure in CJ who presented a new paradigm in the global K-pop market. He also led large-scale events such as KCON). In the meantime, along with Vice Chairman Lee Mi-Kyung of CJ Group, he has played a significant role in the outbound role of promoting the Korean Wave abroad.
In the midst of this, CJ Group Chairman Jae-Hyun Lee recently announced a mid-to-long-term business vision for the first time in 11 years, drawing significant attention. Chairman Lee said, “Each CJ affiliate will accelerate the expansion of their existing businesses in the global and digital fields with a focus on culture and platforms,” and promised an investment of 10 trillion won by 2023.
In particular, CJ Live City is expected to be the new starting point for Chairman Lee’s cultural in-bound, and it is expected that it will serve as the center of the new Hallyu. This city does not go out 365 days a year and is sought by fans of Hallyu around the world.
Shin Hyeong-gwan, CEO of CJ Live City, said, “We will rewrite the history of inbound Hallyu where people from all over the world can visit Korea and enjoy our contents.” he emphasized.
