The partnership between Mohigan Sun and KCC came to fruition this week when it received a green light from the South Korean government for the construction of an integrated Inspire resort on Yeongjong Island. With the license secured, the project is expected to begin construction next year and open as early as the first half . Development, which includes luxury hotels, entertainment and convention spaces, K-pop arenas, shopping venues, food and beverage outlets, theme parks and 215,278 square feet of casinos, is the first focus on entertainment to support Korea’s thriving entertainment industry.
“We consider ourselves an entertainment-oriented company,” said Bobby Soper, chairman of the Mohigan Tribal Game Commission, in an exclusive interview with Yonhap News Agency in South Korea yesterday. We will be one of the best entertainment venues in all of Asia.”
“Our plan is to have global celebrities, including both K-pop and Western performers,” said Soper. “Whether it’s food or international celebrity chef restaurants, we want long-time successful brands to be able to boost Korean brands. We want to make sure that Korean chefs with rising potential are united on the international cooking stage.”
The 1.5 trillion won resort will compete for international business with two other casinos under construction in Seoul’s transportation hub. Paradise Co., Ltd. of Korea and Sega Sammy Holdings of Japan are working together to build an integrated resort that will open next year. The name of the development is FarahIssega is Sammy. Caesars Entertainment has also joined forces with Indonesia’s Lipo Group to open the resort , but Lipo recently announced that it is not sure if the development will proceed. Caesars operating company is currently in bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S., and the outcome of the impending hearing could lead to the parent company going bankrupt as well.
“The Inspire Integrated Resort is close enough to the other two resorts, so there is a certain cluster impact,” he told the union. “Their programming is focused on convention rooms and our programming is focused on recreation and retail. These two different types of programming will complement each other very well.”
Korea currently operates 17 casinos, and only the remote Kangwon Land casino is open to citizens. If all three Incheon casinos are built on schedule, there will be 20 casinos in Korea . Although analysts predict little impact on Macau from the casino, even Kangwon Land, which locals have allowed, has seen a dramatic increase in visitors since VIPs began to avoid it, causing profits to surge under increased government scrutiny.