A decades-old ban on gambling in South Korea has ended with the opening of the first casino for Koreans in a remote town whose economy was devastated by the collapse of its mining industry.
Long queues formed outside the Small Casino Hotel, in Chongson, Kangwon province, with its 480 slot machines and 30 gaming tables which opened for business on Saturday, said one of its managers Oh Yong-Ho.
"Yesterday we were full to capacity, all the 199 hotel rooms are reserved and already people are queuing outside today," said the delighted executive on Sunday morning just after the casino reopened at 8:00 am following a two hour break.
Ordinary guests can bet up to 500,000 won (445 dollars) a day, but "VIP guests" will have no betting restrictions. An official for Kangwon Land Corp., which built the casino, said 93 percent of earnings would be given out in winnings, three percent higher than Las Vegas.
The authoritarian government of President Park Chung-Hee banned gambling in 1969. But it also allowed a handful of casinos for foreigners to be started in Seoul and on the island resort of Cheju.
Since 1969, betting has been restricted to horse racing but illegal underground gaming houses have thrived. South Koreans have also flocked to casinos abroad.
To show how the authorities now see the possible benefits of gambling, the opening ceremony was attended by the provincial governor Kim Jin-Son and Vice Commerce and Industry Minister Oh Yeon-Gyo.
The government owns 51 percent of the shares in the Kangwon Land, which plans to pour 1.2 trillion won (1.07 billion dollars) into the area by 2006 to build a South Korean Las Vegas with its own five star hotel, 1,600 slot machines and 80 gaming tables. There will also be ski slopes and a golf course.
The Small Hotel Casino is expected to earn 100 billion won in annual sales with an estimated 2,000 visitors daily.
"We are going to open 22 hours a day and from the first day it has been a success," said the manager, Oh. "We hope it will go on because the money and the profits will go to the region."
Chongson's leaders had a long fight to get the casino built.
The local economy used to rely on the coal mining industry. But the number of mines in the region has been slashed from 347 in 1998 to 11 in 1998.
In 1995, local residents staged violent demonstrations to force the government to take action to help the community with its tens of thousands of unemployed miners.
Local county leader Kim Won-chang said, "The casino will produce enormous economic effects." He said land prices were showing signs of rising and former miners are opening small shops hoping they will be swept up in a gambling boom.
Kim Kwang-Sik, the president of Kangwon Land, said in a speech at the opening ceremony: "We will make all-out efforts to satisfy the wishes of local residents who want the ailing economy to recover after the closure of the mines here by developing this casino town as a family resort area" -- SEOUL (AFP)
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