Casino Business in South Korea

Hyatt Regency Jeju Hotel

Growing up, among many different career paths that I had in mind, business was one of the biggest ones. Although my parents ultimately wanted me to choose my own career path, my dad had always wanted me to become a businessman. Although I am studying naval architecture and marine engineering, if I could choose an alternate career path, it would have been business. I would have liked to have chosen casino business, which interests me the most. Today, casinos Las Vegas, as well as Macao, are one of the largest entertainment business in the world.

Kangwon Land

In South Korea, one thing about the casino business that stood out as very odd was that most casinos are foreigner-only, and natives are not allowed to play. In a news article regarding the status of gambling in Korea, since the founding, gambling has been prohibited and casinos were made to only attract tourists. However, Kangwon Land, is a casino that is open to local citizens, which contradicts the prohibition of locals in casinos. Even with the Kangwon Land, many locals attempt to obtain fake passports in order to play in the foreigner-only casinos. I am curious as to how the casino businesses are doing, since it only allows foreigners to play at the casinos. There is many problems with allowing only foreigners to play. First off, Macao, which is the largest casino site in Asia, attracts significantly more tourists than Korea. Secondly, most likely the foreigners who visit the casinos are high rollers who have a lot of experience at gambling.Thirdly, by not allowing locals to gamble in casinos only forces them to find other methods to gamble, such as underground gambling or obtaining fake passports. Then, the government has to spend time and money tracking these passports and arresting people who pose as foreigners. It is hard to find exact information regarding the status of casinos in South Korea, but it is highly unlikely that their business is thriving. I just don't exactly understand why the government does not just allow locals to play, as it allows for more business and eliminates the fake passport issue.

articles:
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/06/24/2011062401080.html

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/05/10/2011051000365.html