The Korea Casino Association says the measure would increase operating costs and create uncertainty for casino operators amid growing competition from integrated resort developments elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
South Korea.- South Korea\u2019s casino industry has urged the government to withdraw proposed reforms for the sectors. The Korea Casino Association<\/strong> says proposals to increase the tourism levy on foreigner-only casinos and replace permanent operating licences with renewable licences<\/strong> could reduce investment and weaken the country\u2019s competitiveness against regional rivals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism<\/strong> has proposed raising casinos’ maximum contribution to the Tourism Promotion and Development Fund<\/strong> from 10 per cent to 15 per cent, while licences would be renewable ever five years<\/strong>. The association said both measures would increase operating costs and create uncertainty for casino operators amid the prospect of increased competition from integrated resorts elsewhere in Asia, including MGM Osaka<\/strong> in Japan, which is scheduled to open in 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It noted that contributions to the tourism fund are calculated on gaming revenue rather than operating profit, requiring payments even during loss-making periods. It said around half of South Korea\u2019s 18 casino operators have reported operating losses in most years over the past decade. It also argued that the industry already pays corporate tax, local taxes and individual consumption tax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It estimates that raising the contribution ceiling could increase annual payments by about KRW76.3bn (US$49.8m) for three major mainland casino operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for licences, it noted that South Korea has issued casino licences without expiry dates since amendments to the Tourism Promotion Act <\/strong>in 1994. It argued that periodic renewals would increase financing and regulatory uncertainty for projects requiring long-term capital commitments while potentially affecting employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ministry says the proposals are intended to better reflect the industry\u2019s growth. It argues that revenue from foreigner-only casinos has increased substantially since the current contribution framework was introduced and that the existing structure does not differentiate sufficiently between high and low-revenue operators. The proposed 15 per cent rate would apply only to a high-revenue bracket, with the threshold yet to be defined. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The proposals are scheduled for discussion at a National Assembly forum today. The outcome of the debate could determine whether the government proceeds with the proposed reforms or revises the measures in response to industry feedback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Korea Casino Association says the measure would increase operating costs and create uncertainty for casino operators amid growing competition from integrated resort developments elsewhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":9356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"South Korea's casino industry, represented by the Korea Casino Association, is urging the government to withdraw proposed reforms that include increasing the tourism levy and replacing permanent operating licenses with renewable terms. The industry contends these measures would significantly elevate operating costs, introduce regulatory uncertainty, and diminish the nation's competitive standing against regional integrated resort developments. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism argues the reforms are necessary to reflect industry growth and differentiate between high and low-revenue operators.","focusai_entities":"Korea Casino Association, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, MGM Osaka","focusai_location":"South Korea, Japan, Asia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (0.98), compliance_legal (0.85), operator_casino (1.0), investor_analyst (0.97), supplier_vendor (0.75), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Impact on Operator Profitability?","query":"How will the proposed 15% tourism levy, calculated on GGR rather than operating profit, specifically impact the EBITDA margins and capital allocation strategies of South Korea's major foreigner-only casino operators, particularly those reporting historical losses?"},{"label":"Investment & Licensing Stability?","query":"What are the long-term implications of replacing permanent casino licenses with five-year renewable terms on foreign direct investment (FDI) and the financing structures for future integrated resort developments in South Korea, considering the need for long-term capital commitments?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,154],"tags":[29,24619,1897],"class_list":["post-777045250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-legislation-news","tag-casino","tag-finance","tag-igaming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777045250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777045250"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777045250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777045274,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777045250\/revisions\/777045274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777045250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777045250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777045250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}