This golden statue was ridiculed when a local government erected it. Then gold prices skyrocketed

Halal Tourism (Cambodia)

Phnom Penh, May 12th, 2023 —

The statue was installed in a specially-built exhibition hall resembling a cave, the natural habitat for bats. Beside the statue, they laid a golden egg the size of a coffee table, made with leftover gold and silver, to honor Korea’s mythical heroes born from eggs.

The local government of South Korea, promised that the statue would bestow the sheen of ecological wonder to the region and bring hordes of tourists to the cash-strapped cattle farming county.

However, local fortunes turned as the price of the precious metal climbed rapidly. Following the economic uncertainty of the pandemic and the Ukraine war, gold prices reached record levels.

The estimated value of the statue has increased five-fold to around 14 billion won ($11 million) in recent days, making it one of the most lucrative investments the county has ever made.

Though the statue’s remote location has discouraged travelers, around 15,000 mostly Korean tourists have visited in the past few weeks, according to the county.