Seoul Zoo is going to be revamped as an eco-friendly ecological park by 2020.

"We will make Seoul Zoo an international tourist destination by renovating it as a park of the future where a zoo and theme park will be combined together in eco-friendly way," Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said.

The renovation proposal was made by a consortium of five companies from Korea, the United States and Singapore.

The plan divides the zoo into a free public park and a paid theme park called "The Living World."

The theme park will consist of four zones where visitors can experience different ecosystems while enjoying various attractions on a 3.2-square-kilometer site. Construction will progress in stages with the public park section to be finished by 2015.

meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr