Incheon International Airport Corp. on Monday said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with MSC Korea, the South Korean representative of MGM, a major Hollywood film studio, to build a comprehensive amusement park on a 1.5 million-sq.m site in an international business complex near a passenger terminal.

The airport operator hopes to finalize a detailed construction plan with MSC Korea in about four months and dedicate the large-scale amusement park, similar to Universal Studios, by around 2011.

In addition, the airport operator has organized a consortium with U.S. resort builder Eighth Wonder, Macquarie Group of Australia, and POSCO Engineering and Construction of South Korea to build a massive leisure and business complex, which will house a casino, a resort, and a hotel, near the theme park by 2020.

MSC Korea said it decided to build the "MGM Studio Park" near Incheon International Airport in the belief that the area will grow as a tourism hub linking China, Korea and Japan.

But business circles are skeptical about the deal, as MSC had previously offered to build an MGM theme park in Siheung in Gyeonggi Province or in Busan. The offer was later withdrawn on grounds that the land price was too high.

(englishnews@chosun.com )