Lawsuits Dog Kangwon Land Casino
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Money has been flowing in Kangwon Land, South Korea's only casino open to local citizens, but there is increasing suspicion that the resort is becoming overzealous in exploiting losing gamblers and addicts.
With more Koreans rolling the dice in desperate times, the casino in Jeongseon, Gangwon Province, is upbeat about its upcoming third-quarter earnings report that may confirm a record profit, showing that gambling remains a recession-proof business.
However, Kangwon Land may end up spending a significant part of the revenue on lawyers and compensation payment, as it finds itself buried under a slew of lawsuits filed by pathological gamblers, who believe the casino had a part in having their addictions spiral out of control.
According to Kangwon Land and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the casino has been hit with 23 lawsuits filed by former customers since starting operations in October 2000, combining to claim alleged losses of over 53.8 billion won (about $46 million).
Damage claims accounted for 16 of the lawsuits, and 53.5 billion won of the compensation money demanded, while there were also a number of legal disputes over payout and entrance bans.
The biggest single lawsuit was filed by a gambler, identified only as Jeong, in November 2006, who demanded 20.8 billion won in damage compensation, which accounted for a part of his gambling losses.
Jeong claimed that the casino coerced him to keep coming back despite his heavy losses by granting him irregular favors, such as allowing him to place bets over the legal limit.
A local court eventually ruled that Kangwon Land should take some of the blame for Jeong's losses, ruling on compensation of 2.8 billion won. The case is still pending as the casino appealed the decision.
And in June last year, Kim, another pathological gambler, filed a 20.8-billion-won damage suit against the casino for allowing him to continue splashing out on games tables and machines despite his entrance limitation. The casino is again challenging a court ruling to pay Kim around 1.5 billion won.
The third largest lawsuit was filed by a man identified as Lee, who claimed 7.5 billion won in damages, accusing the casino of seducing him to come back by lifting his entrance ban against the wishes of his family, and allowing him to place excessive bets.
``The fact that Kangwon Land keeps losing in its court cases, despite its all-star lineup of attorneys, shows that the casino has been relying on murky schemes and irregularities to entice more and more gamblers and squeeze money out of their pockets. The situation has become worrisome that now a slew of lawsuits are being filed by gamblers who lost heavily,'' said Song Hun-suk, an independent lawmaker.
``The problem is that the casino has been bending its own rules for money, allowing gamblers to bet over the legal limit and being flexible about the entrance ban placed at the request of the families of pathological gamblers.''
Kangwon Land solely benefited from the government's one-time relaxation of its gaming laws, which was an attempt to help the faltering former mining town. However, problem gambling has become an alarming issue that critics say is leading to more families being torn apart and more social depravation.
According to a report by lawmaker Lee Jeong-hyeon of the Grand National Party (GNP), a total of 35 people, including six through October this year, committed suicide in the Jeongseon region over gambling debt and addiction problems.
The number of serious crimes such as robbery and murder in the area also increased five-fold from the period between 2003 and 2008, Lee said.
Korea has 17 casinos, with locals only allowed to use Kangwon Land.