South Korean casino destination Jeju island entered on Friday at 12am, “Level 2” of the country’s social-distancing rules in a countermeasure to Covid-19, as outlined by the local government on Thursday. It will apply until January 3, 2021.
Jeju media outlets reported that Level 2 required all Jeju’s casinos – venues for foreigner-only customers – to suspend operation.
But according to GGRAsia’s phone enquiries on Friday, four of eight Jeju casinos said they would continue to run their operations as of Friday.
They were: Gongzi Jeju, which said it would be open daily from 2pm to 5.30am on following mornings; Paradise Casino Jeju Grand, run by Korea Exchange-listed Paradise Co Ltd, which is operating from 2pm until 6am; Landing Casino (pictured) at Jeju Shinhwa World, a property of Hong Kong-listed Landing International Development Ltd, and which says it is running 24 hours per day; plus Casino Lotte Tour at Lotte Hotel Jeju, operating from 2pm until 10pm each day.
The three not working round-the-clock reported they had shortened their business hours since November.
Four other Jeju casinos decided on temporary closure long before the Level 2 announcement, according to GGRAsia’s enquiries.
They were: Jeju Sun, which had suspended gaming operations in March; Royal Palace, shuttered since earlier this year; MegaLuck, run by a unit of Hong Kong-listed New Silkroad Culturaltainment Ltd, and which had seen gaming also suspended earlier in the year; and Yalanwan, which had been paused since April 16.
Jeju’s governor, Won Hee-ryong, announced on Tuesday (December 15) that the local government would consider mandating that all inbound travellers to the island present a certificate showing a negative test result for Covid-19 infection. He did not however give details on how and when such a policy might be implemented.
GGRAsia’s enquiries to casino venues indicated that none of the four that said they would keep operating, planned to ask customers to show such a certificate.
According to Jeju’s Level 2 rules, all restaurants are required to close at 9pm, and bars and clubs need to shut.
Elsewhere, enquiries by GGRAsia indicated that Jeju Dream Tower, which on Friday was due to open its Grand Hyatt Jeju hotel, would also see its on-site restaurants shut at 9pm in line with the Level 2 protocols. A planned casino at Jeju Dream Tower, a project of Lotte Tour Development Co Ltd, has not yet been launched.
Up to November 30, Jeju had recorded 81 Covid-19 infections and no fatalities. But as of 5pm on Thursday, December 17, it had recorded 79 new cases during December.
As of 12am on Friday, South Korea had recorded 1,062 new cases in 24 hours, taking the confirmed tally to 47,515, including 645 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
