Answer is “Yes”. A water taxi named “MICHUHOL” is docked at the Sondgo, Inchon. Recently South Korea’s news channel YTN covered Hyundai Yacht’s water taxi MICHUOL. (People are enjoying Songdo with water taxi “MICHUHOL” ) You can board on water taxi anytime you want. It is not free though. 
Our company’s proud power yacht ASAN 45 was inroduced at the top of The Wall Street Journal the day before yesterday. (June 14) Really thanks for the WSJ, the world’s leading newspaper. Check this out!
While South Korea’s shipyards are among the world’s busiest, the country still ranks as a beginner when it comes to building luxury yachts. But in recent years, a handful of South Korean yacht-builders have made serious attempts to make a splash in Asia’s increasingly crowded luxury-yachting market.
Among those fighting for a place in the country’s up-and-coming yacht-building industry is Hyundai Yacht Co.—a descendant of the same conglomerate that gave birth to Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s largest shipbuilder. The firm’s Asan 45 “luxury power yacht” was one of the stars of the third annual Korea International Boat Show last week, held in Gyeonggi Bay about two hours from Seoul.
The four-deck vessel first introduced last October costs around $570,000 with add-ons that can take the price up to more than $800,000. It has a maximum speed of 35 knots and features custom-designed interiors, including a Bose sound-system and Miele kitchen work surfaces.
“Yachts made in Korea are not yet considered luxury in the global market, but we offer high quality products with a reasonable price,” said Lee Hye-ran, sales manager at Hyundai Yacht. “Also we’d like to rely in part on the general image of Korean products, which I believe is ‘reliability.” Ms. Lee spoke to The Wall Street Journal in Seoul. The following interview has been edited:
WSJ: How has the economic downturn affected your customers?
Ms. Lee: Leisure spending is the first thing to take a hit in hard times and the whole industry has been hurt. Some of our business customers who buy expensive yachts to entertain visitors or employees actually put their orders on hold.
WSJ: What are the key trends right now in high-end yachting?
Ms. Lee: Globally, luxury yachts became a lot bigger in the past two to three years. In Korea, these mega-yachts that are more than 100 feet long are not quite here yet, but yachting is getting more popular. In the past, Korean people just wanted a small fishing boat. Secondhand yachts from Japan met demand for anything more than that. But the Korean government last year announced it would build 43 marinas around the country, and also changed the law so that yacht owners can more easily register their yacht, just like car owners do. It’s becoming much easier to enjoy yachting here.
WSJ: Who is buying yachts in Korea now?
Ms. Lee: First of all, of course, they are rich people. Secondly, most of our customers have experienced leisure overseas. We think each customer has a different taste, and each brand has its own characteristics. So customization is important, too.
WSJ: What is your long-term goal?
Ms. Lee: Our goal is to produce top-notch yachts. Right now we only have dealerships in the Middle East and Asia, but ultimately we will make inroads into other parts of the world. Some people in this industry still perceive Made-in-Korea yachts as low-end product. We are running our own research-and-development center as part of our effort to build a yacht that is high-quality and original. We don’t want to just follow and mimic. We want to prove that we can make our own creative, high-end yacht.
—Jaeyeon Woo and Evan Ramstad
