Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | July 2011 6 Cover Story S outh Korea is finally going to open up its casino market—to domestic players and possibly to big resort investors— Inside Asian Gaming has been told. Depending on the number of domestic casino licences and IR licenses issued, the move could significantly expand the size of the South Korea market, and do so quickly. Choung Byoung-gug, South Korea’s Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, told a breakfast meeting of the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry in late June that casinos should be open to Korean nationals. “I will look for ways to allow locals to enter casinos. I’m not sure if I will be able to accomplish this during my term, but I will push ahead with the project,” said Mr Choung in comments also reported by the Chosun Ilbo newspaper. The country’s government would also like to build between two and five multi-million dollar integrated gaming resorts (IRs) of internationally-competitive standard in the country. These are likely to be aimed at foreign tourists. IAG ’s sources say the government is mulling whether to allow domestic gaming in Incheon, a city to the southwest of the capital Seoul, to jumpstart the stalled Incheon City economic development project. It is not clear at this stage whether any IRs in other locations would also be open to domestic players, or what the precise timescale of development for the IRs would be. A date of 2015 has been mentioned as an important milestone. “The year 2015 is the time at which the right of Kangwon Land [casino] to accept Korean domestic customers expires,” says a source familiar with the issue. Jeffrey Jones, Chairman of Korea Tourism Organization’s (KTO) Advisory Board, hinted at market expansion via the IR route during a discussionpanelatG2EAsialastmonth.KTO’s remit is to work with investors and overseas governments to promote the commercial development of the South Korean tourism market. That includes setting targets for inbound tourism. In coming years, it would Korea Opportunities South Korea plans to expand domestic gaming and build several integrated resorts in a major shake-up of its casino market