South Korea strengthens Covid-19 countermeasures in casinos

Due to the rapid spread of the Covid-19 Omicron variant and to avoid an outbreak of new cases, authorities in South Korea have decided to reintroduce countermeasures in entertainment venues.

South Korea.- As fears surrounding the Covid-19 Omicron variant continue to rise, South Korean authorities have decided to grasp the nettle and strengthen countermeasures.

Due to this situation, entertainment venues including casinos were ordered to operate at a limited capacity and with social distancing measures for at least three weeks.

Under the new rules, casinos are also allowed to be open until 10pm.

A week ago, Kangwon Land told GGRAsia that its gaming venue will continue operating at reduced hours from 10am to 10pm every day until January 16.

Last December, casinos in Jeju also started to require proof of Covid-19 vaccination or a negative test result for admission.

Casino capacity continues to be limited to 50 per cent in Jeju, a measure that was implemented from November 1, 2021. There are currently no restrictions on opening hours at Jeju Island Casinos.

Jeju casinos still looking to add remote gambling

Jeju island is still considering whether it is possible to allow its land-based casinos to provide remote gambling to foreign players as a way to help the industry recover.

However, authorities ruled out the possibility of allowing South Korean nationals to gamble as they received many opinions against the idea. 

The opposition included residents of Gangwon Province, where Gangwon Land Corp operates the only South Korean casino that currently allows betting for domestic customers.

According to local media reports, research on the potential of opening up Jeju island to domestic players -requiring national government approval – and research on online gambling was completed in September last year.