The agreement was signed on September 9 at the World Smart City Expo in Busan by AST Holdings, ILJOO GnS and the Alatau City Authority.
Alatau City lies 47 kilometers from Almaty and covers 88,000 hectares.
The Alatau City Authority (ACA) says it will eventually house 1.87 million residents, a projection that runs a quarter century out.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed the Constitutional Law on the Special Legal Regime of Alatau City on May 8.
South Korea is not the only country making this argument to Kazakhstan, and it is arriving with smaller numbers attached.