The largest island off the coast of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, is currently divided between the two possible outcomes of the debate regarding a new casino venue. The new gambling location which has been recently proposed is supposed to change its location and welcome foreign players only and this fact is what divides the industry into supporters of the idea and opposers of it. According to the information which has been announced regarding the venue, it was planned to be moved to Jeju Shinhwa World, but the authorities of the Island are making the process harder for the casino developer.
As it could be recalled, at the beginning of December it became known that the developers of the resort located on South Korea’s Jeju Island have appointed 18th January 2018 as the date when the new resort is going to welcome its first guests. The casino launch date was not specified at that point. The casino operator which oversees the project is the Hong Kong-listed Landing Jeju Development, and it has been previously stated that the end of 2017 is going to see the opening of the casino as well.
However, it has been recently announced that the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Council has delayed the process of giving the green light to the casino relocation and thus it is not going to happen according to the initial plan. Furthermore, several people from the Democratic Party of Korea and the political sector have supported the move of the Council and this has made the situation in the community even more dramatic. The Governor of Jeju, Won Hee-ryong, stated that new casinos on the island would not receive permission for operation in the near future.
People on the island are divided when it comes to the official relocation of the gambling venue and the employment process for the new venue which had begun is now stopped for the foreseeable future. The gambling operator managed to utilize the period of the campaign and the employment process to convince many of the residents that the casino is going to offer them excellent working conditions. This is why there are so many supporters of the relocation and a considerable division among the members of the community. There is also a group of residents of the island which protested the relocation, claiming that the jobs of the people would be threatened if it happens to fail.
Plans for Relocation
It could be recalled, that the casino operator had already hired a total of 1,900 employees which would have found their new job position at the new integrated resort. As much as 70 percent of them were local residents of Jeju Island, as the opening of the casino location was expected to provide a fresh source of income for a big part of the population. Moreover, as many as 6,500 people were initially expected to find their new job at the resort, among them regular workers and subcontractors.
As for the time being, the destiny of the casino location remains uncertain and the authorities are yet to come up with a final decision regarding it. Due to the more complicated situation which is threatening the nature of the casino all employment has come to a halt and workers have been advised to take a leave in an attempt to reduce the monthly costs for the operator. The move has also been considered a provocation against the Jeju Provincial Council.
