By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
An expert proposed Thursday that Seoul Grand Park feature an iconic theme park displaying hallyu, or Korean wave, content so that local fans and foreign visitors can enjoy the cultural phenomenon at anytime.
``Over the past decade, people abroad watched Korean films and soap operas only on television. They will be able to have a first-hand experience of the cultural products themselves whenever they visit the urban park, if the theme park idea is adopted,'' said professor Park Jung-sook of the Institute of International Education at Kyung Hee University in Seoul Thursday.
Park made the suggestion at a conference aimed at exploring the ideas that can transform Seoul Grand Park into a world-class urban space. The meeting was hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
About 250 citizens, urban planners, park specialists and experts on flora and fauna participated in the discussion to share a variety of ideas.
Despite being endowed with a fancy natural setting and location, the spacious urban park featuring a zoo, cultural space and amusements has seen a rapid reduction of visitors in recent years.
Park suggested the city consider building a theme park that displays a variety of hallyu products so that visitors can enjoy Asia's finest cultural items at their leisure.
She said a landmark building would be a must inside the theme park.
The city will unveil a grand master plan to transform the park based on the results of Thursday's public discussion.
Experts say old facilities and poor investments are responsible for making the park, located on Seoul's border with Gwacheon in Gyeonggi Province, less attractive to visitors year after year.
Seoul City has assembled a task force consisting of 22 citizen panel members of all walks of life to improve the park after reviewing several options.
It also encouraged citizens to participate in the face-lift project. Ideas will be accepted for 15 days until July 10.
Professor Yuh Hong-koo of the Urban Planning and Engineering Department at Hanyang University in Seoul, who chairs the citizen committee, has already presented his vision for the park.
Choi Seung-dam, dean of Hanyang University's Graduate School of International Tourism, and Seoul National University professor Ahn Dong-man are among the others who have chipped in ideas.