The coronavirus pandemic is reported to be delaying the financing needed to complete the destination-scale casinos Caesars Entertainment and Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment are building in South Korea.
News outlets in the country, citing information from officials responsible for overseeing development of the special economic zone where the casinos are under construction𑁋a large catchment area surrounding Inchon International Airport near Seoul𑁋said the snags have prompted investors with the projects’ local development partners to demand that outstanding construction funds be fully paid and that further funding secured before construction continues.
In the face of these difficulties, Mario Kontomerkos, chief executive of U.S.-based Mohegan Gaming, has said his company is committed to Inspire Korea, as its resort is called, and that it remains on track for opening in 2022 at an initial cost of US$1.6 billion.
“The pandemic has shown us that diversification into the international arena is important,” he stated back in July.
The future of Caesars Korea, on the other hand, is somewhat cloudier since it was announced last year that Caesars Entertainment would be acquired by another U.S. operator, Eldorado Resorts, in a $17.3 billion deal that closed in June.
The company’s new Eldorado-dominated management has made no secret of its lack of enthusiasm for expansion outside the U.S., announcing as early as last summer that Caesars was withdrawing from the competition for a gaming resort in Japan.
As for Caesars Korea, Eldorado has been mostly silent except to say that it would cap Caesars’ investment at an additional US$60 million beyond the $80 million the company has already contributed to the $700 million resort.
