Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | July 2011 10 The Poseidon adventure—renderings of how the previously proposed Incheon City IR might have looked the country as they prepare to meet this inevitable liberalisation. Given that their charter is to reinvest all profits back into Gangwon-do province, they obviously feel that the government will compensate them by letting them develop other streams of gaming revenue. The extension to their casino building granted by the government is really another sop to help cushion them from the pending shock.” Mr Lee says Jeju might also be a viable option for one or more IRs. There had been rumours—even before news of the gaming reform plan—of several major new leisure and gaming projects for Jeju. One of the incumbent casino operators from Seoul is also considering opening a new casino there. Whether foreign operators and investors will show such enthusiasm for the Korean casino shakeup plans if they are only offered management contract opportunities isn’t clear at this stage. Steve Wynn, for one, has gone on record saying he’s only interested in markets where he can build and manage a property. Other foreign operators such as Caesars Entertainment are known to have long coveted investment exposure to a large Asian IR project. But IAG understands that although Caesars’ senior management is aware of the possible IR schemes in South Korea, the company has not so far publicly indicated any interest in taking part. It might not be such a bad thing for foreign operators and their investors to avoid involvement in casino resort infrastructure in South Korea. It might be less risky to focus instead on casino management. South Korea’s runty twin, North Korea, is dangerously unstable and nuclear-armed. Even if North Korea collapses gently like a flan in a cupboard rather than going with a bang like one of celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal’s exploding puddings, it’s still likely to cause some turmoil for the South Korean economy. Think ‘Fall of the Berlin Wall’ times one hundred, and with half- starved refugees. Foreign investor caution may be Cover Story