Gambling mecca planned for South Korea

South Korea aims to turn a little island into Asia's answer to Las Vegas in a £180 billion project.

Incheon city will become a tourist destination full of casinos, hotels, concert halls, race tracks and a marina. The city, which is just 17 miles away from South Korea's capital Seoul, wants the complex to attract Chinese tourists as well as travellers from Japan.

The island will be known as EIGHTCITY and constructed in a figure 8 as this number is considered by the Chinese to be lucky.

But to make the dream a reality, Incheon needs to secure £180 billion - the equivalent of 290 billion US dollars - in investment over the next 18 years.

Each year 5.7 million people already pass through the airport at Incheon and it is hoped the attraction will encourage international visitors to stay longer.

Park Seong-Hyun, vice-chairman of EIGHTCITY Co, said he believed it would become a major city which could compete with locations like Dubai, Las Vegas and Macau. And he is also keen to see it become an important location for shopping and business like Hong Kong and Singapore.