South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has selected nine foreigners-only integrated resort sites for which the ministry will now conduct a request for proposal.

South Korea

The RFP process had attracted 34 separate proposals across 10 distinct geographies throughout Korea. One of those geographies is Incheon, for which there were 16 different RFP proposals across six sites.

Of the nine sites that have now been short-listed, six are within Incheon, one is in Busan and one site in each of the south-east province of Gyeongnam and the south-west province of Jeonnam. 

The criteria for an IR within the RFP include a minimum investment of KRW1bn (US$850m) and a minimum foreign investment component of $500m. The casino floor must be five per cent or less of total GFA and must have at least 1,000 five-star hotel rooms.

“The government will begin its RFP review in December and ultimately intends to issue two new IR licences,” said analysts Union Gaming. “We believe these will likely be the final IR licences to be awarded for the foreseeable future in Korea (ex-Jeju). Given our view that Incheon is the preferred national IR area, we would expect both new IRs to be issued for this area.

“This in turn would bring the total number of IRs to four in Incheon, which includes two IRs already under construction by Paradise/Sega Sammy and Caesars/Lippo.

“Ultimately, we believe the only other IRs in Korea will be located in Jeju, of which Genting Singapore is already moving forward with its Resorts World Jeju project. We would also expect the government of Jeju to issue up to two additional IR licences for a total of up to three IRs in Jeju.”