SKorean plan for Macau rival collapses
SKorean plan to turn village into Macau rival collapses as Kempinski fails to raise money
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea's Incheon city says a $290 billion plan to transform a fishing village into a rival to the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau has collapsed.
Incheon Free Economic Zone official Jung Mi-hyun said Thursday luxury hotel operator Kempinski AG failed to raise a promised $40 million by the end of July.
Kempinski's Korean unit KI Corp. is the largest shareholder in Eightcity Co., the consortium. Korean Air Lines Co. is the second-largest.
Incheon said the six-year-old contract with Eightcity is cancelled. It will seek a new developer.
Incheon and Eightcity said last year that they would raise 300 trillion won by 2030 to remake the 30 square kilometer town near Incheon International Airport into a tourism, shopping and gambling center to lure China's middle and upper classes.
