Kangwon Land Inc, promoter of Kangwon Land (pictured), the only authorised provider in that country of casino gaming to South Korean nationals, has extended until 6am on February 14 the temporary closure of its gaming facilities. Previously, it said the shutdown would last until February 1.
Gangwon province, where the casino resort is located, would need to go down to “Level 1.5” in terms of social-distancing rules – from the current “Level 2” – before the casino could reopen, the company said, in response to a telephone enquiry on Tuesday from GGRAsia.
Kangwon Land Inc also confirmed to GGRAsia that mandatory unpaid leave for 1,958 of its 3,700 employees had been extended to coincide with the continued suspension of gaming operations.
Such leave had been scheduled to run from December 29 to January 31. Although designated as unpaid leave, negotiation between the affected workers and the company side resulted in a deal whereby they received on January 18 payment equal to 70 percent of their monthly base salary as “urgent livelihood support”. The company spokesperson was unable to clarify to GGRAsia whether further special payment would be made to those workers during the extended mandatory leave.
But the person added an emergency board meeting would be held every two weeks to discuss with the workforce side the issue of some form of payment during mandatory leave.
The Kangwon Land Inc representative further stated to GGRAsia that the firm would be able to consider dispensing with the unpaid-leave scheme only after resuming casino operations.
Due to Covid-19 countermeasures, Kangwon Land Inc has had several suspensions of operations, beginning in 2020. The current one commenced on December 8.
The Kangwon Land resort is in an eastern remote upland region outside the capital Seoul.
The country’s Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters is responsible for designating what social-distancing level should be applied in a city, province or region.
As of 12am on Wednesday, South Korea had recorded 467 new Covid-19 cases in a 24-hour period. It took the national tally since the start of the crisis to 79,311, including 1,441 fatalities, according to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
