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Work begins on landmark Korean arena project

Construction has commenced on a 1.8 trillion won (£1.12bn/€1.32bn/$1.54bn) project that aims to introduce South Korea’s first arena complex dedicated to K-pop concerts.

Located in Goyang, a satellite city of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province, the CJ LiveCity Arena will open its doors in 2024 with an indoor seating capacity of 20,000, plus outdoor space for more than 40,000 other music fans to enjoy concerts.

The entity behind the project, CJ LiveCity, was established in 2015 to build the complex. In June 2019, CJ LiveCity linked up with US entertainment giant AEG in a joint venture to build the arena.

The planned complex will include the arena, as well as a studio space, a K-pop-themed entertainment district and waterfront park.

The Korean firm, which is a subsidiary of media and entertainment company CJ Group, said the combination of its understanding of the local industry and AEG’s venue management could bring in more than 20 million visitors annually.

With construction work having commenced on Wednesday, local newspaper Korea JoongAng Daily said CJ LiveCity Arena will have state-of-the-art concert equipment capable of showing off new technologies like the metaverse and artificial reality.

CJ LiveCity said: “A solid fandom for K-pop artists has been formed worldwide. But there isn’t a venue that is specifically designed to hold (major) music concerts in Korea. To embrace more than 10,000 audiences, (K-pop groups) had to use a sports facility.”
 
AEG is an investor in the project, but CJ LiveCity said its level of involvement is still subject to negotiation. The company said that once complete, CJ LiveCity Arena is expected to generate an economic impact of 1.6 trillion won per year, adding that around 280,000 jobs will be created.
 
Harry H.K. Shin, CJ LiveCity CEO, said the upcoming complex “will create a new paradigm for Korean content.”

Image: CJ LiveCity