South Korea to ban transferring of license in Jeju casinos

The government of Jeju, an island in South Korea, is planning to bring out a legislation to ban the practice of transferring the license for operating casinos. Won Hee-ryong, the governor of Jeju said he would support the legal amendment to stop casino licences to be transferred between properties. “We should, in principle, approve a system that specifies the total area of a casino in order to prevent this place from becoming an island of gambling,” governor Won said, as quoted by local media.

Should such legislation be amended it would have a major impact in Jeju’s casino landscape, not only for future developments but also for the under-construction Jeju Dream Tower. The project is currently being developed by Lotte Tour Development Co Ltd., which announced it would acquire Paradise Jeju Lotte Casino’s entire capital and – probably – transfer its gaming licence to the foreigner-only casino.

“We are considering a transfer [of the casino licence] but we have not decided [on the matter] at this stage,” Lotte Tour executive vice president and COO Lawrence Teo told GGRAsia in August.

“We expect Lotte Tour to ultimately transfer this licence to Dream Tower when it opens in late 2019,” analyst Grant Govertsen said in a note released by Union Gaming Asia Securities Ltd. However, that forecast may be broken up if the local government moves forward with the potential amendment.