No “island of gambling”
The governor of Jeju Island, South Korea—now home to nine gaming halls—hopes to not only put a lid on casino development but also ban the transfer of casino licenses.
“We should, in principle, approve a system that … prevents this place from becoming an island of gambling,” said Governor Won Hee-ryong
The governor may have been thinking primarily of Jeju Shinhwa World, a giant integrated resort that received the license transferred from a small casino inside the Hyatt Regency hotel on Jeju. Operator Landing International Development has seen its gaming revenue jump 360 percent since the transfer in February, according to CDC Gaming Reports.
The sprawling property has generated SKW369.4 billion (US$329.4 million) in revenue since its opening, dwarfing the combined revenues of the other eight casinos on the island, which generated just $120 million. Revenues at Jeju Shinhwa World were five times higher than the revenue of Incheon’s Paradise City, the biggest casino in South Korea, during the same period. Some 350,000 foreigners have stayed at its hotels in its first six months.
If the governor succeeds in his mission, it could spell trouble for the
Jeju Dream Tower, now in development on the island. Owner Lotte Tour Development was planning to buy the Paradise Group’s Paradise Casino Jeju Lotte, located in Hotel Lotte Jeju for US$38.8 million and transfer the license to its new property.
The whereabouts of Landing Chairman Yang Zhihui, meanwhile, are still unknown. In an August filing, the company acknowledged that it has been “unable to contact or reach” Yang since August 23.
“There is still no update on Mr. Yang’s whereabouts,” a spokesperson from Landing International said on Monday in an emailed reply to GGRAsia.
Yang owns 50.48 percent of the total issued share capital of Landing International via a wholly-owned company, according to latest available record from the Hong Kong bourse.
Landing shares fell almost 50 percent in the final week of August when majority shareholder Yang Zhihui was detained by Cambodian authorities due to previous business dealings with China’s state-owned Huarong International Financial Holdings Ltd., whose former head is being investigated in a graft probe. IAG reported that Yang was returned to China following his detention.
Landing, which reported strong results for the month of August at its Korean IR, Jeju Shinhwa World, is under scrutiny by the regulator there. An official informed GGRAsia that the body is “monitoring” the situation as questions remain about Yang, but had “no special actions planned” at the moment.
