Their new destinations will include stops that feature the old and the new Korea.

Kim Ji－yeon helps us paint a picture of these new tourist attractions.

″Foreigners will be able to experience traditional Korean culture at the heart of Seoul... after

a construction of a multipurpose cultural facility dubbed the ′K－Experience.′

You can see that the site looks like a lump of green for now but that will change in the

coming years. Projects like these are part of President Park Geun－hye′s cultural

policies during the second half of her term... in which she hopes the country thrives through

major construction and infrastructure projects like the K－experience.″

Korean concerts， exhibitions and food are expected to be the main features.

But the facility′s surroundings may be one of the most attractive aspects.

K－Experience will be built on 36－thousand square meters of land… adjacent to Insadong

and Samcheong－dong shopping districts… all popular tourist destinations.

The first phase of construction is expected to be finished by 2017，... spearheaded by

the country′s top air carrier Korean Air Lines and the culture ministry.

″Creation of such tourist landmarks in downtown Seoul is expected to help foreigners rediscover

the value of traditional Korean culture.″ The government will also invest 40－point－6－million

U.S. dollars to transform a stadium in Seoul′s Olympic Park into an outdoor K－pop concert

hall. The music venue will be open 365 days a year

and feature the best in sound and lighting equipment.

The ministry hopes the value created by developing cultural contents and tourist destinations

will boost the local economy. Namiseon Island is an example of the potential

gains. Tourism to the island is estimated to have

generated more than 2－and－a－half－billion U.S. dollars after the hit Korean TV drama

″Winter Sonata″ was filmed there. Kim Ji－yeon， Arirang News.