Jeju casinos could add remote gambling and blockchain technology
The proposal was made during the Jeju International Casino Policy Forum.
South Korea.- Casinos located on Jeju island have been deeply affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the lack of tourists during the last year and a half. Experts discussed ideas to help the industry recover at the Jeju International Casino Policy Forum.
At the meeting, Bong Mi Hee, a professor at the Integrated Resort Tourism Research Centre at Inha Technical College, said remote gambling, paid for either by cryptocurrency or credit card, ought to be considered as a plan of action for Jeju casino venues.
In October, a similar proposal was made by Lee Sang-heon, a member of the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, who said South Korea’s foreigner-only casinos should be allowed to introduce online gambling services.
According to GGRAsia, Bong said BitCoin could be a suitable digital payment token for blockchain-based exchanges connected to remote gambling, due to consumer awareness of the digital currency brand.
However, she also noted that despite the multiple benefits as transparency, the payment method also has some difficulties for the risk of money laundering crimes.
Seo Wonseok, a professor at the Integrated Resort Tourism Research Centre at Kyung Hee University, also shared his visions regarding the possibility of allowing cryptocurrency and said many payment methods could be added. He suggested the development of a localised cryptocurrency.
He said the current law that only allows casinos to be housed inside Integrated Resorts should be relaxed to help support the Jeju casino sector.
Although there are eight casinos on Jeju island, only three are open: Jeju Shinhwa World, operated by Hong Kong-listed Landing International, Paradise Casino, operated by Paradise Co Ltd, and Jeju Dream Tower, run by Lotte Tour Development Co Ltd.
South Korean authorities have reported that the collection of gaming taxes declined 82.4 per cent year-on-year in 2020 to KRW81.8bn (US$70.5m).
In 2020 South Korean casinos received only 1,760,232 visits, down from 6,128,952 in 2019, while Jeju casinos welcomed 166,873 visitors, down 54.8 per cent when compared to pre-pandemic levels.
