Caesars Pulls Out Of Incheon Casino Project In South Korea

Caesars Entertainment was very keen a couple of years ago about expanding its presence outside the United States and building new casino resorts especially in Asia. Caesars expressed interest in entering the lucrative Japanese casino market and had also committed to developing a multi-million dollar casino in Incheon, South Korea.

Caesars has apparently decided to scrap its plans for its proposed Incheon casino and pulled out of the deal in Jan 2021. South Korea has only one local friendly casino as all of its other casinos are foreign only casinos.

Caesars decided to partner with a local South Korean company to develop a new casino project known as the Caesars Korea Resort Complex. The casino project was going to be developed in the special casino zone in Incheon in partnership with R&F Korea (RFKR).

Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority (IFEZA) confirmed that Caesars had decided to pull out of the proposed casino resort project but did not provide any explanation for doing so.

Incheon Project To Be Delayed Significantly

The casino project which is also known as Midan City Resort Complex was expected to open its doors to the public in March 2021. The project involved the development of a casino, luxury hotel, service apartments and villas. However, the casino project has faced multiple challenges and will not be ready in time for the proposed March 2021 deadline.

The global coronavirus pandemic brought the construction industry to a half in South Korea as well as multiple countries across the world. There will be further delays now that Caesars has pulled out of the project and a new partner is looking to take over.

R&F Korea (RFKR) has sent in a letter to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in early February and informed them that they would like to postpone the opening of the first phase of the casino project from March 2021 to March 2024. One of the main reasons for the extended delay is because RFKR will now have to look for a new international partner to take the place of Caesars Entertainment.

R&F Korea will need to find a premier international casino operator who can fill the shoes of Caesars Entertainment. There is no indication if there are any potential replacements. RFKR is expected to get a confirmation from the ministry by April 2021.