South Korea has had horse racing since 1922 and there are now 29 racetracks in the country with revenues of around US$5 billion. Lotteries were introduced in 1969 and South Koreans can now play on 52, the lottery market being worth around US$3.6 billion a year. There is only one casino in the country that is open to South Korean players, in Kangwon Province. The other thirteen casinos are foreigners only. Gambling activity accounted for 53.9% of South Korea’s leisure market in 2004, and around 24 million people went at least once to one of the gambling venues.

Last year South Korea saw a 9.6% reduction in spending on recreation, including gambling, mainly due to the economic downturn leaving people with less disposable income. It is the first time that the country has seen a drop in gambling expenditure since 1998. The gambling sector includes casino, lottery, horseracing, cycle and boat racing.

The casino at Kangwon Land is bucking the lower trend. Visitors to the casino, opened in 2000, increased their wagering by 22.7%. It has recently been announced that special charter flights will start between Osaka in Japan and Yangyang in Kangwon Province. One flight per week will carry passengers from January 8 to March 25 between the international airports, and the period will be extended if the route proves popular. Tour packages will be provided by an association of travel agents in Kangwon Province and by Japan Travel Bureau, the largest travel agency in Japan.

Before promoting the new air route, the local government in Kangwon Province publicized their tourist attractions to the Japanese in Osaka. Asians, and particularly Japanese, have increasingly been visiting Kangwon but travelling overland from Incheon International Airport, leaving the provincial airport with decreasing passenger numbers. It is hoped that the new charter flights will reverse this. The province is the film location for ‘Winter Sonata,’ a very popular soap opera throughout Asia, and also offers ski resorts as well as the Kangwon Land casino resort.

Another casino resort, this time across the border in North Korea, is seeing an influx of visitors, predominantly Chinese. Around 100 travel each day across the Tumen River to the Rajin-Sonbong Free Trade Zone and gamble at the five-star Emperor Hotel & Casino. The state media in China has accused some government officials of spending hundreds of millions of yuan gambling in North Korea, some of the money from public funds. Every year about 50,000 Chinese visit the Emperor, a Hong Kong built property, around 30% of them being government officials. The casino operation at the Emperor offers slot machines, blackjack, roulette and Sic Bo.

A crackdown is expected on Chinese officials gambling in North Korea, after several cases of ‘borrowed’ funds. In South Korea the year 2005 is expected to see a continuing decline for the gambling industry, despite a five-day week giving workers more leisure time and a new track for horseracing opening in April in Pusan.

© Copyright 2004 CasinoCompendium



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