Inside Asian Gaming

IAG DEC 2022年12月 亞博匯 96 PHILIPPINES E ven in his formative years, Daesik Han – the charismatic Chairman and CEO of Clark casino operator Hann Philippines Inc – recalls being stubbornly single-minded when pursuing his goals. “When I was in grade 10 I was in love with basketball, but in winter in my hometown the wind chill would be down to minus-20 degrees, so it was very, very cold,” the Korean- native Han recalls. “Even then, I used to wake up at 5:30 am and go to the sports field at my high school and practice basketball. I had cracks all over my hands because of the cold, and my Mum and my friends would say to me ‘Stop doing this, you’re crazy!’ “But when I decide to do something that I like I am really focused on it. Whenever I feel that there is something I want to do well, I am fully into it. That makes me a little bit different from the people around me.” Fast forward many years, and this focus has borne rare fruit. From humble beginnings in the Korean town of Jecheon – located about halfway between Seoul and Busan – Han now oversees the US$600 million