Cheers and Loathing for Korean Casino

"…At the baccarat and roulette tables the picture is the same.

"...The electronic chirping of the 500 slot machines, packed tighter than tenements, rises to a near maddening decibel, drowning out the sounds of all voices, all cheers and sighs.

"…All in all, it is a crowd any casino on the planet would be ecstatic to have on a Friday or Saturday night.

"But at this house, it is only 9:17 in the morning on a Tuesday - their `slow time.'

"Welcome to Kangwon Land, the first casino in Korea to give Koreans a piece of the action.

"Kangwon Land's Executive Director Paul Lee is firmly in the dream-come-true camp.

"…Lee, a veteran of Las Vegas, is just one of the made-for-Hollywood storylines in the Kangwon Land saga. He emigrated to the United States in the 1970s and started off at the bottom as a dealer. Over the next three decades he slowly worked his way up to mid-level managerial positions, serving as pit boss at the Paris Hotel and shift manager at the Stardust, but he never fulfilled his personal American dream: running his own casino.

"`I never made it all the way. I was Oriental. I didn't have the connections,' said Lee, a lithe and affable man who harbors no resentment, but is positively bursting with Bugsy Siegal-esque dreams.

"`I want to create something that is better than Las Vegas in Asia,' said Lee. `In Asia there are casinos, but they don't have the entertainment atmosphere of Las Vegas. I want to really show them something.'..."

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