Proposed casino in Busan South Korea may become a reality

The potential development of a casino resort in the South Korean port city of Busan was debated at an international forum.

South Korea.- According to the Korea Economic Daily representatives of international casino developer Las Vegas Sands Corp had visited Busan, scouting it as a possible location for a casino resort. But the outlet highlighted that the casino group wanted to ensure that local gamblers would be allowed to use the gaming facilities. Even though South Korea currently has 17 casinos, locals are only allowed to gamble at one of them, Kangwon Land in an upland area of Kangwon province.

Glenn McCartney assistant professor of hospitality and gaming at the University of Macau said during the 1st Global Busan Tourism Forum that a casino resort in the South Korean port city of Busan could be an “attractive catalyst to tourism” if pursued in partnership with “international experienced operators,” although he did warned that simply looking at current aggregate numbers of mass-market visitors to Busan as an indicator for the likely success of a casino resort would be a “flawed” approach.

Las Vegas Sands has previously mentioned plans for a US$10-billion casino resort in South Korea hoping that entry to locals would be allowed, namely on similar terms to those granted to Singapore’s casinos by the Singapore government. However, a number of investment analysts have noted however that allowing locals to gamble in South Korean casinos other than Kangwon Land would require adjustments to the existing regulatory framework, even if there were some forms of social safeguard applied, such as an entry levy.