South Korea's "Robot City" Is Coming In 2016 And It Will Have A Battle Arena

After discontinuing the project in 2012, South Korea recently announced its "Robot City" will soon break ground.

Masan Robot Land Park will be half theme park, half research and development center, according to Fast Company.

The project is expected to cost more than $6 billion and will also include a convention center and exhibition area. Korea's Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Energy has been working on the project since 2007 but private investors are also contributing to the endeavor. The U.S. alone, more than $1.23 billion has already been pledged.

It is expected to open in 2016 and be completed in 2018. The second phase will add hotels, condos, youth hostels and a giant robot statue that will look over the 300 acre park.

Masan Park sounds like a robot-focused, expanded version of Disney's Tomorrowland, the popular portion of the Walt Disney World theme park outside Orlando, Florida.

It will have three sections: Robot Kingdom, Robot Village and Robot City.

Robot Kingdom will include a Robot Game Arena, where robots will compete and battle one another, according to the park's website. The arena, which will be attached to the convention center, will be able to seat 2,000 attendees.

It will also be able to host other technology conferences and competitions such as the Wold Cyber Games, a festival and competition that promotes e-sports.

Robotics are very important to South Korea. The country's robotics industry has seen huge growths rates and the government has set a goal to have a robot in every household before 2020, according to The Escapist.

In addition to the park and research and development center, Masan Park will have a graduate-level robotics school and an robotics institute.

The delay in the project was due to environmental concerns, according to Fast Company, but that appears to have been resolved — it is too big a goal to abandon and sounds like the potential for success is huge.

Masan Park is located outside Incheon, a west coast city that is home to one of the busiest airports in the world, according to the parks website. Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai are all near by. It is also only 20 km from Seoul.