The Seoul International Finance Center (SIFC) project, a game-changer for the Yeouido skyline, is five years into construction. When completed, it will replace the 63 Building, which has been the tallest building in Yeouido for decades. 

The International Finance Center, which is being built in the Financial Insurance Complex facing Yeouido Park, is a joint venture between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and AIG, and consists of Office Tower I (32-story, It consists of three office towers, I (32 floors, gross floor area 88,160㎡), II (29 floors, gross floor area 78,997㎡), and III (55 floors, 160,776㎡), a 38-story hotel with 434 rooms (gross floor area 89,791㎡), and a retail mall with three underground floors (gross floor area 89,351㎡). In particular, it is expected to be connected to subway lines 5 and 9 of Yeouido Station, making it a new conceptual multifunctional space where shopping and business can be solved at once.

In 2007, Seoul's Yeouido was designated as a comprehensive financial center due to its excellent financial industry environment, including the concentration of financial institutions and the establishment of high-level management infrastructure, and was built with the aim of fostering its development as an economic and financial center in Northeast Asia and attracting foreign investment.

All construction work is scheduled to be completed in August and the building is expected to open in September. The retail mall, in particular, is expected to be substantial, with CJ CGV, Youngpung Bookstore, Conrad Hotel, H&M, and other mammoth brands signing contracts during construction.  

Otis Elevator has been entrusted with the elevator construction of the Seoul International Financial Center project. In June 2009, Otis Elevator completed the first phase of the project with 113 elevators, escalators, and moving walkways, and in March 2010, the company won an additional 46 units. The total order for 159 units is valued at approximately 40 billion won, the largest order for Otis elevators in Korea for a single site, according to Otis officials.

The elevators (117 units), which account for the majority of the project, are being installed along with 91 gearless, 8 geared, 2 MRL (model name: GEN2), 16 cargo, 28 escalators, and 14 moving walks, and have been under construction since last year.

"The elevators being installed in Office Towers Ⅱ and Ⅲ are planned to be completed in March and April and go through a commissioning period, and the passageways connecting the subway to the retail mall and the elevators and escalators (23 units) in the retail mall will be opened in parallel with the opening of the stores," said Yoon Hyung-shik, MPM (Major Project Manager), who is in charge of the project. "In the case of the hotel, additional residual work will be carried out with a little more time to match the interior." For MPM Yoon, the most important aspect of the project is to fulfill the Otis management philosophy of safety first - delivering on time and keeping the promise to the customer.

Director Kim Sang-ki, who is in charge of the site, also has the same mindset of "zero accidents until the end." He is in charge of overall management with a wide perspective, including technical management such as electricity and machinery, human resources management, and material management, while keeping workers safe and familiar with all construction methods.  "Equipment management is also a responsibility that should not be overlooked, and it is necessary to become a maintenance engineer who can grasp the efficiency, advantages, and disadvantages of the equipment," said Kim. "Unlike other construction, elevators are physically manual and take a lot of time, so we have to pay attention to manpower management." 

The most notable features of the site, they say, are the use of the largest hoisting machine, which can accommodate 37 people, the beautifully designed observation elevators that are being installed in hotels and retail malls, and the 10-meter height of the first floor, which is common to all three office towers. 

In fact, Office Tower Ⅲ is equipped with an ultra-large-scale crane (model name: 70T) that is comparable to the average person's height and worthy of an international landmark, which was imported from Otis in Japan at the end of October last year. With a speed of 300 meters per minute, a capacity of 4.5 tons, and a weight of about 17 tons for 37 passengers, it has a stroke of 268 meters.

This is the second model to be installed in Korea after the Northeast Asia Trade Tower (NEATT) in Songdo International Business Complex, the tallest building in Korea (305 meters), and is also the model installed in the Burj Dubai Tower. MPM Yoon says that the best ride comfort was realized by reducing noise and vibration, especially when traveling at high speeds. In addition, a total of seven observation elevators were installed in the north and south pavilions (model name: DS 4, 3 each) and the hotel (model name: DI 1, 4 each), boasting a fast speed of 3.5 m/sec, elegant design, and a height of 10 m on the first floor of the office tower, showing off the coolness and grandeur of the building.

Construction safety regulations here are very demanding. All work processes are carried out within the lines of Otis' safety regulations and GS E&C's safety regulations, and there are resident employees of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Administration, who allow only equipment that has passed the inspection to prevent equipment accidents that may occur when proceeding with similar equipment. There are about 60 cleaning areas designated for each company, so it is easy to see clean and neatly organized equipment compared to other construction sites.  

As in this case, Otis Elevator's strength is in the field of ultra-high-speed models. Currently, about 50 of the world's 100 tallest buildings are equipped with Otis high-speed elevators, and Otis products can be found in the Burj Dubai Tower in the UAE and the World Finance Center (WFC) in Shanghai, China.  In Korea, Otis has installed elevators in large skyscrapers such as NEATT, Songdo First World, Dongtan Metropolis, and The City 7 in Changwon, occupying more than 60% of the domestic high-rise market with its excellent process management and construction know-how. 

In particular, this site is not only the largest single elevator project in Korea, but its technology has also been recognized in overseas markets such as China, Panama, Russia, and the UAE since 2001, accounting for 30% of total sales. Recently, the company has signed contracts to export elevators to a luxury condominium (54 floors) and a multi-complex building (53 floors) in Central Asia. Currently, Otis Elevator is active in overseas sales activities under the Sigma brand in more than 80 countries around the world through 11 corporations and agents in China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and other countries, with flagship models such as the double-decker and eco-friendly GEN2.