쌍용건설

On June 11, 2018, just twelve hours before he was scheduled to sit down for the historic summit with US President Donald Trump, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un surprised the media and the world by taking an impromptu tour of Singapore, the host of the summit meeting. His surprise night-time stroll onto Gardens by the Bay and the Marina Bay Sands generated a huge amount of press coverage, making Ssangyong E&C, the construction company that built the luxury hotel, an unexpected beneficiary of the intense media attention.

After his visit to Sands SkyPark at the Marina Bay Sands, one of Singapore’s architectural landmarks, Kim smiled and waved at the cheering crowd gathered at the entrance of the hotel, which was broad worldwide.

As the sole contractor, Ssangyong E&C constructed the breathtaking hotel complex comprising three towers with 2,561 guestrooms. Sands SkyPark, an enormous boat-shaped structure, sits on the top of the 57-story towers, housing three swimming pools, an observation deck, a walk path, restaurants and a spa. Celebrated as the architectural and engineering marvel of the century, the 343-meter long and 38-meter wide structure is 20 meters longer than the Eifel Tower (320 m), is expansive enough to house two football fields (12,408 m²) and weighs more than 60,000 tons.

The observation deck, the largest in the world with a capacity of 900 people, sits on top of cantilevered structures that extend 200 meters above sea level and 70 meters out, which exceeds the total length of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, with zero support.

“Thanks to the US&ndashNorth Korea Summit, Ssangyong E&C received international media exposure, with the Maria Bay Sands getting on the short list of potential venues for the historic meeting and being included in Kim’s surprise tour itinerary,” says Se Yong Choi, PR Manager at Ssangyong E&C. “The intense media coverage,” he explained, “helped raise our corporate profile as well as boost the morale of our employees.”

Ssangyong E&C has a long history of leading the private sector effort for the economic cooperation between the two Koreas. In December 1994, Ssangyong E&C and Ssangyong Group became the first South Korean company to come to an agreement with the North Korean government on its participation in the SOC project for the Rason (Rajin-Sonbong) Special Economic Zone, and successfully completed working-level negotiations in North Korea.