RFKR casino scheme at Incheon in fresh deadline extension

Apr 18, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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A casino resort project in the Incheon Free Economic Zone in South Korea, has been granted another 12-month postponement of its first-phase opening deadline, this time to March 17, 2024.

The information was confirmed to GGRAsia by R&F Korea (RFKR), a firm linked to Hong Kong-listed Chinese developer Guangzhou R&F Properties Co Ltd; and by Incheon Metropolitan Council member, Shin Sung Young – whose constituency includes the area where the project is located.

“RFKR Resort” (site pictured in a file photo) is due to have a foreigner-only casino. The previous first-phase deadline had been March 17 this year. On January 31, the promoter asked the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for another extension, the company had earlier confirmed to GGRAsia.

The latest deadline extension is the fourth modification of the launch schedule for the site since 2018, a period when the pre-merger Caesars Entertainment Corp was the casino partner. It emerged in early 2021 that the casino brand – by then taken over by U.S. regional casino operator Eldorado Resorts Inc – had disposed of its interest.

A representative at RFKR stated to GGRAsia on Monday that its newly-endorsed extension was with “conditions” regarding resumption of construction, and finding a gaming-operator partner as well as an outside investor. RFKR declined to give details on the conditions.

The RFKR scheme is at Yeongjong Island, near South Korea’s main air hub, Incheon International Airport.

About 25 percent of the RFKR scheme has been built, though construction has been being suspended since 2020, according to the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority (IFEZA), the public body overseeing the site.

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