( CNN ) -- Standing in the shadow of the Burj Dubai Kye Ho Kim of Samsung Construction rattles off the list of records the building will break . Standing about a half mile high , it will be the world 's tallest building , with the most floors ( 164 ) and the world 's highest and fastest building . `` This building is going to break so many records , '' said Kim , whose company is building the $ 4 billion tower , scheduled to open later this year . `` This is kind of a project like the first exploration of the moon . Nobody can challenge it . '' It may not rank with manned missions to the moon , but right now there is nothing else like the Burj Dubai on Earth . As the project is metaphoric for the strength of Samsung Construction , the company itself symbolizes the growth of South Korea onto the world stage . A country once devastated by war and still divided by north and south has rebuilt itself into a modern capitalist democracy with companies with a global reach such as Samsung . Samsung has cornered the market in giant building construction , building the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and Taipei 101 in Taiwan -- both previous world-record holders . `` Think about the Americans when they constructed the Empire State Building in 1931 , '' Kim said . `` So have we ... in a very short period of time we are now the leading company in the world . '' Some of Korea 's more impressive building projects are happening at home . In the midst of the recession , construction of Songdo -- a 1,500-acre new free trade zone built on reclaimed land two hours out of Seoul -- continues apace , with a projected cost of $ 35 billion . Developers hope it will be the eventual home of 75,000 people . It 's considered one of the world 's largest private real estate development ventures in history , a joint project with South Korea 's Posco and Gale International , a U.S. real estate developer . `` Under construction today is about $ 10 billion '' of the project , said Chris Sausser , executive vice president of Gale International . `` The project we 're building has been able to attract multinational companies , investors as well as residents . '' Postwar South Korea was based on a `` growth at any cost '' model , but the South Korean government has pledged 2 percent of its GDP for the next five years dedicated to green development . The country , already the world 's most wired , plans to develop next-generation Internet connections that use less computing power . Indoor lighting initiatives are replacing traditional bulbs with lower energy LED lights . `` Green growth is not a plan B , it is plan A , '' said Kim Sang Hyup , executive director of the Green Growth Committee . `` We are going to contribute to the global community by action , not talk . '' CNN 's Stan Grant , Kristie LuStout and Kyung Lah contributed to this report .
South Korea companies such as Samsung have become global brands . The world 's largest private real estate development is in South Korea . The government 's new development plans focus on environmental technology .