While the casino industry in most parts of the world is still closed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the operators in South Korea are giving some hope for casino business by reopening their casinos. This comes after the number of the pandemic cases has fallen in the country.
After weeks of the COVID-19-related closure, the foreigner-only casino Paradise Co Ltd announced the reopening of its three gaming venues in Incheon, Seoul and Busan. The announcement was made on Monday and it comes one week after the re-opening of Paradise’s casino on Jeju Island.
However, another foreigner-only casino operator Grand Korea Leisure, which is considered a strong rival of the Paradise, has announced that it would extend the closure of its three foreigner-only casinos until May 6. It is also worth a mention that Paradise and Grand Korea run casinos only for foreigners as it is against the law for native South Koreans to gamble at these properties.
Similarly, the Kangwon Land Inc, the only casino resort in South Korea where the country’s nationals can gamble, has had its gaming facility closed since February 23, 2020. On Friday, the casino announced it had extended its closure. The new hopeful date for its reopening is on May 4.
The country reported only 13 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, which shows a significant improvement from the hundreds of cases reported per day in March. The current number of active cases has fallen and the country now has 10,694 infections from the coronavirus, with 238 deaths.