Casino Island Jeju Announces Government To Abandon Remote Betting Idea

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South Korea's gaming jurisdiction, Jeju Island (pictured), said it has given up the idea of offering "proxy bets" through foreign-only casino floors for now, citing the industry's tepid response. 슬롯머신

Another topic about local industry - whether the island can be given more land licenses - is a matter of public debate again after the appointment of a new Jeju governor on July 1. Oh's predecessor opposed issuing a new license. Oh has not announced his position until now.

GGRAsia was informed of the information by Son Min-ho, the assistant director of the Jeju Tourism Industry Department, while visiting Jeju Island. In June last year, the local government told GGRAsia that it was still working on remote gambling ideas.

Initially referring to foreign-only casinos in mainland Korea, Son told GGRAsia in a recent update from Jeju authorities: "First, domestic casinos are not interested in proxy betting. Second, if adopted, it can cause diplomatic and technical problems. Finally, the epidemic is over, so the Jeju casino industry is not pursuing it anymore."

The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province has had certain regulatory powers over casinos since 2009. The island currently has eight licensed locations. Until January, the agency responsible for casinos on the island was defined as the Casino Policy Department.

Son's mentioned "diplomatic" concerns were understood to be related to the attitude of foreign governments, which do not regard online gambling as an authorized activity for their own people. There are 17 land casinos in Korea overall, but only one of Kangwon Land can offer gambling to the Korean people.

In the fall of 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a lawmaker suggested that the entire foreign-only casino sector in South Korea should be allowed to introduce remote gambling for overseas customers in order to compensate for the loss of overseas tourism businesses. Within the casino industry, "proxy betting" is a certain form of remote betting, usually betting on live games on behalf of customers who are not physically present at the location.