Concerns are being voiced about the ‘ Dubai Craze ’ sweeping through the country . All major domestic projects such as Song - do free economic zone in Incheon , Sammangeum reclamation , Taean industrial city , Yongsan international business district , the Yellow Sea free economic zone have presented identical blueprints that are vacuous imitations of the projects currently taking place in Dubai . The large scale development projects currently being promoted in the nation bear great resemblance not only with the basic architectural scheme of the constructions taking place in Dubai -- pavilion - style structure , high - rise buildings functioning as a landmark , hotels , convention centers and trade centers -- but also with the concept of the city itself . The main goal of the projects is to attract foreign investments , yet no activity is taking place to achieve that goal . In fact , the projects are actually designed to squeeze profit out of the sales of the apartments that are to be built in the neighboring areas -- exactly same as the projects in Dubai . Let ’ s take an example of Song - do in Incheon . Dubai has been performing the so - called ‘ Midas ’ operation via transforming the barren desert into gold . In the case of “ The Villa Project ” in the middle of the desert , the price per 3 . 3 ㎡ land reaches up to 30 million won . The original price for the sale was 5 million won but the price has been on the rise as the project has been proceeding . Incheon Economic Free Zone ( IEFZ ) which has been developing Song - do in South Korea had sold the entire site to U . S . Gail Corp . Director General at Korean Construction Institute Kang Young - gil said , “ Companies unfolding projects in Dubai first divide the land in units and then set prices differently according to the development steps . The companies distribute the land based on performance and raise land prices via reflecting the surrounding market conditions . ” [ Eun - jung Kim / KHS ] [ ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk . co . kr , All rights reserved ]