Mohegan Moving Forward

The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority on July 2 announced it had completed a “concept agreement” for a casino resort in South Korea in partnership with that country’s Incheon International Airport Corporation. 

Photo: AP Photo / Matt Rourke

According to World Casino News, the facility will be called the Inspire Integrated Resort and will be built on 215,000 square meters of land. Once the MTGA is granted a gaming license by South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, it will be able to proceed with the project. The resort, which will be on the grounds of the Incheon International Airport, will feature more than 1,000 rooms spread across two hotel towers. It will also include an art exhibition center, a music entertainment arena, a Native American cultural and arts “experience” and a “village” promoting Korean cuisine and music.

There will also be an amusement park and a special “Korean cosmetic and beauty hub.” As for gambling, there will be 1,500 slot machines and 250 card tables. Direct foreign investment in the resort is expected to be around $1.6 billion, and once it’s completed it is estimated to create 24,000 jobs. MTGA, which is also called Mohegan Sun, has so far not revealed the overall cost of the project, but World Casino News says the company is expected to spend $320 million for the entertainment area, $140 million for the theme park and $35 million for a private air terminal.

The company’s agreement with the South Korean government is expected to be finalized by the end of the year. GGR Asia reports that another casino operator, Grand Korea Leisure Co. Ltd., is also thinking of a partnership with Incheon Airport. In the past, in fact, Mohegan Sun and Grand Korea were said by the press to be in a partnership, but “both sides appeared to discount such a possibility.”