Looking for $50 million in annual revenues
This report proves truth is stranger than fiction. According to United Press International and other media outlets, a senior North Korean official who met with President Donald Trump at the White House earlier this month may have proposed a casino partnership to the onetime owner of Trump Taj Mahal and other gaming halls in the United States.
Newspaper Donga Ilbo reported that Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party, sought “investment support” for a casino and other tourist attractions in North Korea’s Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist zone.
The source was identified only as a person familiar with U.S.-South Korea diplomatic relations. Kim Yong Chol reportedly told Trump the casino could bring in $50 million in annual revenue.
Cho Bong-hyun, a South Korean analyst with the Industrial Bank of Korea, told news network MBN the investment proposition may actually be of interest to the United States. “If North Korea denuclearization is realized, investment in North Korea will take place in earnest. The Wonsan area, from the position of the United States, would have merit.”
Inside Asian Gaming reports that Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un will make the pitch for casinos himself when and if a summit of the two leaders takes place. He reportedly envisions an “international tourism complex” that would boost tourism to the country. South Korean operators may be invited to invest, IAG reported in news that caused a bump in Korea’s casino stocks last week. Both Paradise Group and Grand Korea Leisure were up by around 8 percent.
Analysts say the plan may be too optimistic. “We’re not even sure if a large-scale casino makes any economic sense in North Korea,” said JP Morgan’s DS Kim in a research note.
Two small casinos currently operate in North Korea, one in the capital city of Pyongyang and the other in Rason near the border with China and Russia.
