Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd (GKL), an operator in South Korea of foreigner-only casinos, is working to recruit junkets – which it refers to as “VIP gaming partners” – for its gambling business, the company has confirmed to GGRAsia.
It had earlier said in a brief statement on behalf of the marketing strategy team that it was “looking for ‘VIP gaming partners’ to build the future together”.
A GKL representative told GGRAsia in response to an email seeking more information, that it was “part of efforts” to meet a KRW503.8-billion (US$334.4 million) annual revenue target by 2030. The figure had been mentioned in the company’s corporate-value enhancement scheme – known as the “Value-up Plan” filed with the Korea Exchange on March 26.
The spokesperson told GGRAsia it was seeking junket partners in places where direct marketing “is difficult”. The person did not identify places by name. It did mention it was interested in gaining clients from “emerging markets”. The term is commonly used for places undergoing economic growth at annual rates that might typically be higher than those found in rich-world countries. The representative said GKL had already recruited some junkets, and that the current recruitment drive was to “enhance transparency and fairness” for its VIP partners. It didn’t elaborate on how that would work.
GKL is a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, which is in turn affiliated to South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The firm operates three foreigner-only casinos under the Seven Luck brand: two in Seoul, and one in Busan.
For full-year 2025, GKL reported group-wide sales of nearly KRW422.95 billion, up 6.7-percent on 2024,
In its March results, GKL booked casino sales of KRW31.98 billion, a 16.0 percent fall from KRW38.08 billion in February. On a year-over-year basis, March casino sales fell 22.8 percent.
The group said late last month it had formed a company task force to look at ways to respond operationally to rising oil prices and energy supply instability stemming from tensions in the Middle East.
