RFKR appeals S.Korea govt ruling that its IR scheme invalid

Jun 13, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has confirmed to GGRAsia that R&F Korea (RFKR) filed on Wednesday evening an appeal against the department’s March decision that “invalidated” RFKR’s right to have an integrated resort (IR) project with foreigner-only casino at Incheon.

The ministry said it would have 15 days to respond.

An RFKR representative told GGRAsia the firm was entitled – under the terms of the local land register – to retain ownership of its Incheon site. Work on the IR scheme started there but has been paused since 2020, when about a quarter of the construction process had been completed (pictured).

According to the website of Incheon Housing & City Development Corp – a public entity in charge of Incheon Metropolitan City real estate development – RFKR’s Incheon site is designated for “commercial facilities”.

The ministry’s March decision to invalidate the casino-hotel development role of RFKR – linked to financially-troubled Chinese real estate group Guangzhou R&F Properties Co Ltd – came after RFKR failed to secure from the South Korean authorities a further 12-month extension for its gaming resort’s first-phase opening. The Ministry said at the time that RFKR had 90 days to lodge an appeal against the invalidation of its casino scheme.

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