GGRAsia – Kangwon Land extends casino pause to May 11

Kangwon Land extends casino pause to May 11

May 04, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Kangwon Land (pictured), the only casino resort in South Korea where the country’s nationals are allowed to gamble, has decided to extend – for an eighth time – the temporary closure of its gaming venue. It now says it will reopen at 6am on May 11.

The initial casino closure notice was described by the resort’s promoter, Kangwon Land Inc, as a precautionary measure related to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has severely affected the country.

Kangwon Land Inc had originally announced a temporary closure of the casino from noon on February 23 until 6am on February 26, and then extended that on seven consecutive occasions, up to today (May 4).

The firm said in a Monday filing – at the time it flagged the eighth extension to the closure – that it was anticipating its lost casino sales would amount to KRW286.8 billion (US$233.7 million) calculated from the start of the casino shuttering on February 23. The estimate was based on Kangwon Land’s daily casino revenue in full-year 2019, added the scheme’s promoter.

The company had previously flagged a shutdown of its non-gaming operations from March 2. Non-gaming facilities at the complex were to open gradually, depending on the evolution of the Covid-19 disease in South Korea, stated Kangwon Land Inc in Monday’s filing.

At least two South Korean operators of foreigner-only casinos had also announced they were temporarily closing down their gaming operations, in line with the country’s effort at curbing the further spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd has paused its gaming operations until Wednesday (May 6); Paradise Co Ltd reopened its four gaming venues in April.

As of Sunday, South Korea had recorded an aggregate of 10,793 cases of Covid-19 infection and 250 deaths, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

South Korea is praised by international experts as one of the first countries in the world to bring a major Covid-19 outbreak under control. New cases in the country peaked at 909 on February 28 and have gradually diminished since.