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Casinos for Foreigners in Seoul5 March 2001Many major hotels in Seoul, Korea, are planning to establish casinos. It is believed that this will escalate the competition to obtain government approval between hotels. The Oakwood Hotel has already completed the interior of a casino and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Lotte World Hotel are well into their preparations. According to the hotels vying for licensing, former minister of culture and tourism Park Jie-won announced in January 2000 that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism would approve at least three new foreigners-only casinos within the year. The government denies that it intends to issue more licenses. The highly lucrative nature of the casino industry in Korea means that the hotels are eager to take advantage. The only casino in Seoul at the Walker Hill Hotel generates W50 billion in net income annually - a 25 percent return. In fact, the hotel also accounts for 60 percent of all revenues in the domestic casino business. |