Gov’t approves the third license for a casino resort on Yeongjong Island

An integrated resort, which the Korean government has supported in an attempt to encourage investments in Korea, will be created on Yeongjong Island. After the review of requests for proposals for the development of an integrated resort since last year, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Ministry said on Friday that it selected “The Inspire Integrated Resort (IR)” jointly funded by the U.S. Mohegan Tribal Gambling Authority and Korea’s KCC Group.

The Inspire IR will create an integrated resort on 405,150 square meters including a casino for foreigners, a hotel and a theme park, which will be built in IBC-Ⅱ of Incheon International Airport. It will invest a total of 1.5 trillion won (1.25 billion U.S. dollars) with a plan to open it in 2020.

The ministry started to solicit proposals for an integrated resort project in February last year and screened six businesses in five regions in Korea, which submitted their final business plan starting from November. The recent selection would result in three casinos for foreigners on Yeongjong Island. The “Paradise integrated resort” by the Paradise Group will open its phase 1 next year and the Lippo-Caesars (LOCZ) integrated resort starts construction this year with an aim to open its phase one in 2018.

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