{"id":777047205,"date":"2026-09-10T08:57:05","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T11:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777047205"},"modified":"2026-09-10T10:22:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T13:22:02","slug":"south-korea-may-delay-proposed-casino-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/south-korea-may-delay-proposed-casino-reforms","title":{"rendered":"South Korea may delay proposed casino reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Industry representatives have warned that the measures could discourage investment and affect the country\u2019s regional competitiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">South Korea.- Proposed casino regulatory changes in South Korea could be delayed as the <strong>Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism<\/strong> continues discussions with operators. The ministry had initially planned to submit its amendment in <strong>September<\/strong>, but the timetable could be affected by the Chuseok holiday from September 24 to 27 and the National Assembly\u2019s annual audit of the government, scheduled from October 6 to 27. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A ministry official told MTN that meetings with individual operators are continuing and that the proposal could be submitted before the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As proposed, the reforms would raise the maximum contribution to the Tourism Promotion and Development Fund from <strong>10 to 15 per cent <\/strong>of annual gross gaming revenue (GGR) and introduce a five-year licensing system. However, the industry has raised concerns over the potential impact on investment. <strong>Shin Jong-ho<\/strong>, secretary general of the Korea Casino Association, told MTN that a higher contribution could discourage investment in casino facilities and development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The government is reportedly considering transitional arrangements for casinos that have recently obtained licences to limit disruption from the new framework. The proposed 15 per cent rate <strong>would not apply to all casino revenue<\/strong>. The ministry plans to establish a revenue band, with earnings above a threshold yet to be determined subject to the increased contribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ministry says the reforms are needed to <strong>modernise a regulatory framework<\/strong> that has remained largely unchanged for nearly 30 years. Five-year licensing reviews would assess regulatory compliance, financial viability and management competence.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label\">See also:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/08\/21517332-f952-43dd-9032-abf8871897fb-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/south-korea-casino-executives-warn-regulatory-changes-could-threaten-ir-investment\">South Korea casino executives warn regulatory changes could threaten IR investment<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Industry representatives have warned that the measures could discourage investment and affect the country\u2019s regional competitiveness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2384,"featured_media":777047209,"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 Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is considering delaying proposed casino regulatory reforms, including an increase in the Tourism Promotion and Development Fund contribution from 10% to 15% of GGR and a new five-year licensing system. Industry stakeholders, notably the Korea Casino Association, have expressed concerns that these measures could deter investment and impact regional competitiveness. Discussions with operators are ongoing, with potential transitional arrangements being explored.","focusai_entities":"Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Korea Casino Association, Shin Jong-ho, MTN","focusai_location":"South Korea","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (1.0), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Impact on IR Investment?","query":"What specific financial models or investment projections are being revised by integrated resort developers in South Korea in response to the proposed 15% GGR contribution rate?"},{"label":"Licensing Framework Details?","query":"Beyond compliance and financial viability, what are the precise governance frameworks and operational metrics that will be assessed under the new five-year licensing review system?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,154],"tags":[29,24619,225],"class_list":["post-777047205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-legislation-news","tag-casino","tag-finance","tag-legislation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777047205","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\/2384"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777047205"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777047205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777047216,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777047205\/revisions\/777047216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777047209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777047205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777047205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777047205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}