Construction of East Asia's Tallest Building Starts

An artists impression of the DMC Landmark Tower An artist's impression of the DMC Landmark Tower

The construction of the world's second tallest building starts in Seoul on Friday. The ground-breaking ceremony for the 133-story skyscraper tentatively called the DMC Landmark Tower will be held at Digital Media City in Sangam-dong, northwestern Seoul. Construction is to be complete in 2015.

Built on a 37,280 sq.m plot, the ultra high-riser will stand 640 m tall, the world's second tallest after the 160-story, 818m Burj Dubai being built by Korean developer Samsung C&T in the United Arab Emirates.

The DMC Landmark Tower will be 8 m taller than China's Shanghai Dragon, to be completed in 2014, becoming East Asia's tallest building.

The 133rd floor of the DMC Landmark Tower will house an observatory 540 m off the ground, 66 m higher than the observatory of the Shanghai World Financial Center. The skyscraper will house a hotel, broadcasting facility, apartments, offices, a department store and a shopping mall.

englishnews@chosun.com / Oct. 16, 2009 11:33 KST