Casino attracts 5,000 on opening day

On the opening day of the first ever casino, "Small Casino," for Korean nationals in the Chung-sun area of Kangwon Province, 5,000 or so visitors flocked to the establishment Oct. 28.

The company in charge of management, Kangwon Land Inc., revealed that from 3 p.m. Oct. 28 to 6 a.m. Oct. 29, about 3,489 visitors passed through its doors.

Outside the casino, about 1,400 or so visitors were given numbers to await for their entrance into the casino, which was at full capacity, and many more were not able to have an opportunity. Thousands from all across the nation flocked to the casino Oct. 29 to fill the 199 rooms of the casino hotel, as well as all other room accommodations in the area, making the search for a vacancy nearly impossible.

As the doors opened at 3 p.m. Oct. 28, a crowd of people numbering 5,000, three times more than expected, waited to enter the casino. The casino-fever for Korean nationals has hit this otherwise abandoned mining town.

As the casino filled to capacity, Kangwon Land closed the doors at about 8 p.m., about five hours after its opening. The visitors who could not enter the casino were unable to head back to their homes but waited outside the casino late into the night.

Along with the rooms at the hotel, all the motels and other accommodations in the Kohan and Sabuk areas were filled by early morning, and even the motels at Taebaek City enjoyed brisk business. By midnight Oct. 29, about 1,500 or so gamblers remained in the casino with a capacity of 650 and made their bets at various tables such as baccarat, blackjack, and roulette, even as they were standing.

A majority of the gamblers at the casino were in their 40s and 50s. A man in his 40s playing a slot machine with thick cigarette smoke surrounding him continued to reach for his wallet to take out more cash, then having spent all the money in his wallet, dropped his head as he walked away.

Although such scenes of regret played out for most of the gamblers, there were bursts of cheers from time to time.

Two of the gamblers during the first day of operation won jackpots from slot machines with the highest pay-out, Mega-Slot, and received 12.65 million and 12.90 million won. Fifty dealers at the casino filled their responsibility and lent to the smooth operation of the casino.

Within the first 10 hours of operation, 40 slot machines out of 480 broke down and needed repair. Some observed customer service was a bit unsatisfactory.

"The technical repair man came and confirmed the machine was out of order," a 45-year old man at the casino complained. "He returned to his office and didn't make any apology or refund or even show his face for the next hour."

The cashiers' booths also were inadequate, and many gamblers had to wait 80 minutes in order to cash checks for playable cash. A few foreigners gave up trying to change their dollars to playable cash and left the casino.

In the casino, there were some who were residents of the abandoned mine-town. Earlier, Kangwon Land had proposed to restrict the access to residents of the abandoned mining town in order to minimize the negative economic influence of the casino. However, on opening day, there were not any such restrictions.

The residents of the area, situated 1,100 meters above sea level, look toward the casino with a renewed sense of economic vigor for the region.

"In 1995, most of the 93 retail malls were up for sale but failed to find any buyers," Park Yoo-Jun, head of Kohan Market Association said. "However, now, there are not many up for sale, and the price of a store that once went for 20 million won has jumped to 60 million won."

The Chairman of the Committee for the Promotion of Kohan, Sabuk, Nahm-myon areas Song Jae-Bum (44), said: "Although the opening of the casino seems to be a success, the core management executives as well as Kangwon Land management lacked inclusion of any persons from the local area. It might be a bit of a problem, as the management personnel were appointed by and among the officials of Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Energy and the ruling party."

Ghyung In-Su sunghyun@donga.com