News: South Korea and MGM plan to build theme park

Posted at 9:07 PM EST (0207 GMT)

Mar. 13th, 2006 -- U.S. movie studio MGM Inc, known for such hits such as "The Wizard of Oz" and "2001: A Space Odyssey", is looking to build its first overseas theme park in Busan, South Korea.

The park, which has been dubbed the name 'MGM Studio Park', is planned to be jointly built by MGM and Busan City, with the city providing the park's 1 million square meters of land and infrastructure. MGM, however, will reportedly invest as much as $600 million USD for the first phase of the park, which will include the park, a hotel and other facilities, such as a movie studio.

The new theme park will be part of a tourism complex Busan is building in the eastern part of the city and has been reported to be the model for a future theme park. If all goes smoothly, the park is set to open in 2011 with construction starting as soon as the end of next year.