Kangwon Land extends casino closure to April 6

Mar 23, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Kangwon Land, the only casino resort in South Korea where the country’s nationals are allowed to gamble, has decided to extend – for a fifth time – the temporary closure of its gaming venue. It now says it will reopen at 6am on April 6, a date which would signify the resort having almost a month and a half of suspension for its gaming business.

The initial closure notice – for the casino only – was described by the resort’s promoter, Kangwon Land Inc, as a precautionary measure related to a Covid-19 pandemic, which has severely affected that country. Non-gaming facilities at Kangwon Land (pictured) are to remain closed until March 22, according to a Friday filing to the Korea Exchange.

The Covid-19 virus outbreak – recorded first in mainland China – has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, with infections across the Asia-Pacific region and the globe.

Kangwon Land Inc had originally announced a temporary closure of the casino from noon on February 23 until 6am on February 26, and then extended that on four consecutive occasions, the latest extension running until Monday (March 23).

The firm said in Friday’s filing – at the time it flagged the fifth extension to the closure – that it was anticipating its lost casino sales to amount to KRW158.1 billion (US$124.8 million) from the start of the casino closure on February 23. The estimate was based on Kangwon Land’s daily casino revenue in full-year 2019, added the scheme’s promoter.

The company said that non-gaming operation losses for March 2 until March 22 were expected to amount to an additional KRW11.0 billion. Non-gaming facilities at the complex are to open gradually, depending on the evolution of the Covid-19 disease in South Korea, stated Kangwon Land Inc in Friday’s filing.

As of Sunday, South Korea had recorded an aggregate of 8,961 cases of Covid-19 infection and 111 deaths, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The country – the second hardest-hit nation in Asia after China – reported 64 new cases on Sunday, according to the latest official data.

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