Posted on : Mar.2,2006 02:05 KST
Just six years since the opening of the Kangwon Land casino, some 3,077 Korean nationals have been put on the list of people not permitted to enter. They are people who cannot lead normal lives because of their addiction to gambling. It would be safe to say that as many families have been ruined as individuals who have been listed. Addicts who have financial assets are not included on that same list, so the number of families that have been hurt by the casino must be far larger.
In 2004 the government decided to allow the Korea Tourism Organization to establish a foreigner-only casino in order to "meet the growing demands of the tourism industry." It opened one in Seoul's Samsungdong in January, and has plans to open another in one of Seoul's neighborhoods north of the Han River and yet another in Busan. The move makes Korea a strange country for having a state-owned corporation that operates casinos. Morality was pushed aside in order to make money, but the casino in Samsungdong is already losing billions and ultimately it will be the people who have to pay for that.
Now the government has drafted a revision to the tourism promotion act in which all five star hotels that fit certain conditions will be allowed to build casinos for foreigners. Until now that has been possible only in special tourism-designated areas and hotels located near international air terminals. Civic groups and even members of the ruling party are right to be upset and call the change an attempt to "turn the whole country into a house of gambling."
Casinos have little effect in attracting tourists to come to Korea. 80 percent of their income comes from VIP's playing big games with a lot of cash on their hands. Only 20 percent comes from regular tourists. Most of the country's fourteen foreigner-only casinos are in the red. At the latest count, in 2002, they were only at 3.8 percent of their full operating potential.
The bill that would allow them nationwide will soon be reviewed in the National Assembly. As representatives of the people, Assembly members need to prevent the country from turning into a "Republic of Casinos" and safe face for the people, as their pride has been hurt by the government's ideas. The best thing that could happen would of course be for the government to decide against submitting its revision bill.
The Hankyoreh, 2 March 2006.
[Translations by
Seoul Selection]
