Civic groups in Gangwon Province are demanding strict punishment for former Governor Choi Moon-soon after data showed Legoland on Jungdo in Chuncheon drew 573,979 visitors last year.
According to a News1 report on the 10th, Chuncheon City Councilman Yoon Min-seop of the Justice Party released the attendance figure of 573,979. That represents a 16% increase — 79,361 more visitors — compared with 2024’s reported total of 494,618.
Legoland, which opened in May 2002, once attracted 653,991 visitors in a single year. Attendance later fell to 632,871 in 2023.
However, the park reported an operating loss of KRW 19.7 billion (about $14.8 million) and a net loss of KRW 135.0 billion (about $101.3 million) in 2024, pushing it into a state of complete capital erosion. Before the park opened, Gangwon Province and other stakeholders projected annual attendance of 2 million, but actual figures averaged roughly 580,000 — about one quarter of that estimate.
Civic organizations that opposed the Legoland development from the start have pushed back.
In a statement, the Gangwon Peace and Economy Institute said Choi signed an unequal agreement during his tenure that effectively granted 100 years of rent-free use and funneled more than KRW 700.0 billion (about $525 million) of public funds into the project, severely damaging provincial finances. The institute said public money was squandered and that Gangwon Jungdo Development Corporation (GJC) was driven toward near-bankruptcy under heavy debt.
The statement added that Choi has never offered a sincere apology to residents despite presiding over a flawed project that plunged the province into a serious fiscal crisis, and called on the court to issue a strict verdict in his ongoing trial to restore administrative accountability and justice.
The Citizens’ Committee to Stop Legoland Waste also criticized officials, saying the project still requires injecting tens of billions of KRW annually and that the prehistoric site park and artifact exhibition have been suspended since 2018. The committee singled out Gangwon Province, Chuncheon City, and public officials — including former Governor Choi and Governor Kim Jin-tae — for showing a lack of basic accountability.
“Those responsible must be punished,” the committee said. “A clear apology, measures to prevent recurrence, and a reset to square one are the only acceptable options.”
Earlier, prosecutors indicted Choi on charges that in 2014 he expanded a loan guarantee from KRW 21.0 billion to KRW 205.0 billion without the Gangwon Provincial Council’s consent, causing financial harm to the province. A former head of the provincial government’s Global Trade Bureau, identified only as A, was also charged.
Prosecutors further allege that Choi provided false information to the provincial council to obtain approval for a Master Development Agreement, then instructed GJC to pay KRW 80.0 billion to Legoland Korea under that agreement, resulting in losses to GJC.
