Kangwon Land casino to remain shut until October 5

Sep 21, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Kangwon Land Inc, the promoter of Kangwon Land (pictured), the only casino resort in South Korea where the country’s nationals are allowed to gamble, has extended until 6am on October 5, the temporary closure of its gaming facilities. Previously, it said the shutdown would last until September 21.

The latest extension comes as South Korea continues to apply community measures to contain Covid-19 infections in the nation.

The Kangwon Land site had first been shuttered earlier in February, near the start of the pandemic emergency. It resumed some casino operations in May, but only for VIP areas, rather than the main floor. Closure had been reactivated on August 23, amid a spike of infections nationally.

In a Friday filing to the Korea Exchange, Kangwon Land said it expected lost casino sales – for the period from 10am on August 23, to 6am on October 5 – to amount to KRW53.9 billion (US$46.4 million), based on daily-average casino sales during the first half of 2020.

The Kangwon Land resort is about 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the country’s capital Seoul.

Authorities in South Korea decided on Friday to extend for another week, enhanced measures against the spread of Covid-19. The steps include limiting indoor social gatherings to below 50 people and outdoor to less than 100.

The government also said it plans to further tighten rules for the autumn holiday, when people traditionally reunite with families. Social distancing policies for the September 30 to October 2 holiday are yet to be announced.

As of 12am on Sunday, South Korea had recorded 82 new Covid-19 cases in the preceding 24 hours, taking the national tally of infections to 22,975, according to a dedicated website of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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