Will government open more casinos to locals?
On Sunday, February 25, the foreigners-only casino at the Hyatt Regency Jeju Hotel on South Korea’s Jeju Island opened at the Jeju Shinhwa World Marriott. The news was announced in a filing from Hong Kong-listed Landing International Development Ltd., the project’s promoter.
In a press release, Landing International Chairman Yang Zhihui said the relocation of Landing Casino will make Jeju Shinhwa World “one of the few integrated resort operators in Jeju and South Korea that offers to visitors a complete world-class hospitality, leisure and entertainment experience.”
The casino opened with 155 live gaming tables including baccarat, poker, blackjack, roulette and sic bo along with 239 slot machines and electronic table games. The 5,500-meter (18,000-foot) gaming floor is seven times the size of that at the Hyatt Regency.
The casino completes Phase I of the resort. The development first opened in April 2017 with a “world-class resort condominium.” In September, the Shinhwa Theme Park opened. In November, Jeju Shinhwa World Landing Resort and Landing Convention Center opened, followed by the Marriott and Shinhwa Shoppes in December. The resort includes 627 luxury guest rooms; eight meeting rooms; five food and beverage outlets; indoor and outdoor pools; a spa; and other facilities. Popular South Korean rapper and entertainer G-Dragon has been actively involved in the development of a café that bears his name.
Phase II will include a waterpark and another hotel, both scheduled to open by mid-2018, to be joined in 2019 or 2020 by the luxury Jeju Shinhwa World Four Seasons Resort & Spa and Lionsgate Movie World, a branded outdoor theme park.
“In 2018, we will focus our efforts on operating Jeju Shinhwa World to deliver on our promise to make Jeju Shinhwa World into a tourism destination under the spotlight on Jeju Island that the residents will be proud of,” said Yang.
Landing International swung to profit in 2017, reporting HK$505.1 million (US$64.55 million) in profit over a loss of HK$1.1 billion ($140.58 million) in 2016, reported CalvinAyre.com. The company attributed the upswing to the sale of condo units at Jeju Shinhwa and the selloff of the elite Les Ambassadeurs Club and Casino in London.
But gaming revenues were down 35.1 percent to HK$235.80 million ($30.13 million) in 2017 compared to HK$363.45 million ($46.47 million) revenue in 2016.
“Despite the disposal of Les A on 11 October 2017, the group remains firmly committed to its gaming business,” the company said in a statement. “The group recognizes that a casino is one of the most essential facilities within an integrated resort in order to offer its visitors a complete hospitality experience.” Management at Jeju Shinhwa World hopes to achieve a “50-50” balance of gaming to non-gaming revenue.
Meanwhile, in a report spotlighting the Winter Olympics, USA Today also noted regulations that keep Korean residents out of 22 out of the country’s 23 gaming halls.
“That’s not the weirdest part of the gambling laws, though,” wrote correspondent Dan Wolken. “When South Koreans leave the country, casino gambling is still illegal—though they can gamble on select games, horse racing, boat racing and cycling.”
While foreigners-only casinos proliferate in South Korea, an attorney who spoke anonymously to the newspaper said the government may want to consider opening the doors to locals.
“There are some conflicting ideas in order to induce more foreign capital into Korea that we need to liberalize casino regulations because the foreign investors may develop the areas and increase job numbers and ultimately promote the Korean economy,” the attorney said. “But many people’s reaction is that positives are limited and there are more side effects.”
According to the Korea Center on Gambling Problems, gambling addiction in South Korea in 2016 was 5.1 percent, “two to three times higher than gambling addiction rates in major foreign nations.” The body also says more than 1.97 million Korean adults have a gambling problem.
The latest casino announced for South Korea will be called Diamond City in Incheon. Chinese real estate investment firm LongRunn International Group announced it is investing more than $4 billion to build the foreigners-only gaming destination on Yeongjong Island, home of the Seoul-Incheon International Airport. According to Casino.org, “The largely manmade island is quickly becoming South Korea’s version of Macau’s Cotai Strip.”
Last month, LongRunn acquired 19 acres of land near the airport for $81.5 million. The planned $4.2 billion mixed-development will include a “seven-star hotel, casino, office tower, retail mall, schools, medical and aesthetics center, interactive cultural avenue, K-pop hub, and theme park.”
