A traditional Korean folk village will be built in upstate New York, on an 83-acre site, roughly 30 city blocks. Metro Green, a Korean real estate development company, announced the project on September 5, in Bethel, New York. The village will give visitors the experience of traditional Korean life. This is the first time a traditional Korean village has been built in America.
A consortium of three Korean investors is financing the project, which will consist of the traditional folk village, covering about 12 acres, a traditional Korean game park, covering about 10 acres, and a youth and foreign culture education center. This Korean cultural complex will also include other buildings, an outdoor performance area, a zoo, a small golf course, play areas, a swimming pool, and a shopping center. In addition, a 1500-unit hotel and 200 condominiums will be built on the site. Traditional Korean bungalow-style accommodations are also planned, and will help make this Traditional Town into a tourist resort.
The traditional folk village will also serve to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Korean immigration to America. Statues and monuments will be erected that give insight into the history of Korean immigrants in the United States.
According to a statement released by the developers, the completed project will be a great benefit for second- and third-generation Koreans across America. It will provide them with an experience of Korean culture that they cannot get anywhere else but in Korea. It will be a wonderful place to learn about Korean culture, and to help advertise Korean culture to non-Koreans as well. Metro Green, which commissioned a Korean construction company to come up with the plans for the development, now that these are finished, applied to the New York State government to begin construction. If all goes well, Metro Green envisions breaking ground within the year.
The company is also providing incentives for investors. It is seeking investments from individual as well as corporate Korean investors. In relation to the company’s vision for the project, a Metro Green spokesperson said, “This is really an important contribution toward bringing traditional Korean culture closer to young Koreans growing up in America – and young Americans, too. It will help the younger Korean generations understand Korean culture, as well as help them to discover their Korean heritage and identity, through the educative nature of the site. It will also be a strong advertisement for Korean culture – and an instrument for Korean tourism. We will do our best to recreate a true Korean traditional village, so that everyone can learn about, and understand Korean history and culture.”
