South Korea’s largest aquarium opened at the 2012 Yeosu Expo site on Friday, about a week ahead of the official kickoff of the three-month-long international fair.

Hanwha Engineering & Construction Corp., which built the aquarium, said the Aqua Planet is a four-story building covering 16,400 square meters and equipped with a 6,000 ton main tank.

The overall size of the aquarium is two to three times larger than existing facilities in Seoul and Busan and will remain on the site after the Yeosu Expo ends.

The builder said a total of 33,000 marine animals from 280 species will be on display, including endangered animals as beluga whales, Baikal seals and sea dragons. The Aqua Planet will have the country’s first “dome aquarium” feature to give visitors a 360-degree view of a underwater environment, it added.

In addition, the facility will have an Amazon eco-terrarium and country’s largest jellyfish tank, the company said.

The Yeosu Expo, accredited by the Paris-based Bureau of International Expositions, is slated to run from May 12 through Aug. 12 in the southern port city of Yeosu, 455 kilometers south of Seoul. 

(Yonhap News)