Korean casinos open to Koreans?

Presently Korea (South) has 17 casinos.  Only one of them is open to Koreans and it’s conveniently located in the remote Kangwon province.

The Korean government wants players losing money in their casinos…just not local players.  Clearly they don’t have much faith in the ability of their countrymen/women to control their gambling habits.  But there’s a problem with this policy, and it gets more exposed as the Asian casino landscape continues evolve – and it’s evolving rapidly.

Before 2010, Macau, Korea and Australian casinos took over 90% of Asian region revenues.  A year and bit on, and Korea’s been bumped out of the top 3 and their casinos make less than half as much as Singapore’s.  As a tourist gambler why travel to Korea to play in a dingy 3 star hotel/casino when the sparkling Marina Bay Sands is an option? As a Korean player, making the trip abroad to play baccarat or blackjack becomes all the more enticing with so many new, exciting integrated casino resorts popping up in the region – Macau and Singapore in particular. In coming years new integrated resorts could also be operational in Taiwan and Japan.

The Korean government’s paternal player policy and sub-standard casinos will see both dwindling casino revenue locally and a continued increase in Korean player spend abroad.  Undesirable outcomes that it seems the government has decided to try and change.

The Korea Tourism Organization has been charged with the responsibility of developing the casino industry with a view to boosting tourism (ala Singapore Tourism Board back in 2005)  and they’ve appointed a board of experts to help show them the way.  With Singapore providing the perfect model for how to achieve this goal, its no surprise to learn that the board of experts have recommended that Korea build some very big casinos, suggesting five or six integrated resort licenses be issued around the country beginning with Incheon, Busan and Jeju.

Unlike the majority of existing casinos, these ones may be open to locals, particularly if Chung Byoung-gug, minister of culture, sports and tourism gets his way.

“If we are going to build casinos, then it should be open to all, Koreans and foreigners,” he told The Chosun Ilbo.  He went on to say, “those who want to gamble go abroad and spend their money in foreign countries. The result is that we end up losing out on what should be a highly lucrative and high-end tourism draw.”

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