Features
New Korean Casino For 2018
The competition in Asia to attract gamblers is heating up with the announcement that a consortium made up of Caesars Entertainment and the Lippo conglomerate of Indonesia have received a “preliminary” license to build a casino-resort near Incheon, the home of South Korea’s biggest airport.
Photo: AP Photo / Kim Ju-sung, Yonhap
The sign is already up at the site of a new casino-resort near Incheon, South Korea, which happens to be right next to the country’s largest airport.
The resort will open in 2018 and will cost the consortium $696 million to build, according to South Korea’s culture ministry.
It is the first time a South Korean casino license has been granted to foreign investors.
The casino will be the country’s largest, but, as with almost every other such facility in South Korea it will cater exclusively to foreign visitors.
The casino in the country accessible to locals is the one in Gangwon Province, east of Seoul, which was built to help revitalize a moribund mining town.
Japanese media, however, have reported that about 40 people, all Koreans, have committed suicide in relation to the gambling complex in Gangwon since it opened.
The culture ministry will review progress of the Lippo-Caesars resort before granting final approval of the license.
The resort, which will be located about 40 kilometers from Seoul, will include a five-star hotel, serviced residences, a theater, a convention center and other commercial facilities.