Lotte World – South Korea’s largest indoor theme park – will lead a consortium of 12 companies tasked with developing a virtual reality (VR) theme park programme.

The move is part of the Korean government’s Virtual Reality Flagship Project – a scheme which covers a number of sectors with the aim of developing VR technologies ahead of international competitors.

The Lotte-led consortium will work with companies abroad and at home to create the virtual attraction, and is also planning to distribute the VR content it develops to markets such as China, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, before going to Europe and Americas thereafter.

Lotte World has been budgeted W10bn (US$9m, €8m, £6.8m) for the landmark project, which will be raised by both the operator and by South Korea’s Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.

In addition to its theme park plans, the government has also called on several other companies using VR to develop a range of games, entertainment, education and other business enterprises.