Kangwon Land's self-developed slot machines take off in Southeast Asia

Lee Sam-kul, fourth from left, Kangwon Land CEO, and Datuk Steven Lim Tow Boon, fourth from right, COO of RGB International, pose with other officials after signing a sales contract in Manila, the Philippines, in January. Courtesy of Kangwon Land

By Sah Dong-seok

Kangwon Land has opened a liaison office in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, to step up full-fledged sales and promotional activities of its own slot machine brand, KL Saberi, the state-run casino operator said Monday.

By opening the liaison office, Kangwon Land hopes to boost its sales activities targeting casinos in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines.

The liaison office, which opened on March 14, is adjacent to Entertainment City in Manila, the casino hub of the Philippines, a location suitable for strengthening communications with casino officials in Southeast Asia.

What's especially encouraging is that Kangwon Land will be able to swiftly communicate with RGB International, a Malaysian-based slot machine distributor. Kangwon Land expects to publicize the excellence of KL Saberi by utilizing RGB's own connections and sales networks.

Kangwon Land also plans to strengthen its marketing activities to attract inbound tourists seeking to enjoy leisure time, including skiers.

"In the future, our liaison office in Manila will become a hub through which KL Saberi slot machines will be exported to Southeast Asian markets and play the role of priming water to attract inbound travelers from abroad," Kangwon Land CEO Lee Sam-kul said. "I expect the liaison office to be a bridgehead in Kangwon Land's endeavor to gain ground across the world as a global casino resort complex."

'KL Saberi' gains ground in Southeast Asia

On Jan. 12, Kangwon Land signed its first slot machine export contract with RGB at the Sheraton Manila Bay Hotel in Manila in what appeared to be its first slot machine overseas sale.

On March 14, the company marked another overseas sale milestone by concluding a contract to sell 30 slot machines to Dowinn Group in the Philippines.

With the two contracts signed this year, Kangwon Land will provide a total of 65 slot machines to the casinos in the Philippines.

Kangwon Land established a bridgehead needed to make full-blown forays into Asian markets by signing official deals to export its self-developed slot machines for the first time this year. The contracted slot machines will be manufactured in Taebaek, Gangwon Province, before being installed in casinos in the Philippines during the first half of this year.

Boosted by the steady increase in KL Saberi's brand awareness, Kangwon Land aims to sell 140 slot machines in Asia this year first and sets sights on exploring new markets in Europe and the United States with an aim to sell 510 slot machines by 2027.

Korean and local officials pose at the opening ceremony of Kangwon Land's liaison office in Manila, the Philippines, March 14. Courtesy of Kangwon Land

Slovenia's Advansys picked as partner for advance into Europe

On March 1, Kangwon Land signed a business agreement with Advansys, a company specializing in casino management systems in Slovenia, to build a base for entering Europe and exploring Southeast Asian markets.

Advansys CEO Zlatko Waiss attended the agreement ceremony in person and promised to strengthen mutual cooperation needed to remain competitive among the handful of international casinos that have been growing bigger lately.

Under the agreement, Kangwon Land will be able to cooperate on European sales and publicity of its own KL Saberi slot machines and join forces with Advansys to make forays into Asia's casino management market in accordance with its win-win strategy.

Kangwon Land and Advansys also agreed to develop the lately trending contactless casino system and share its technology and operational knowhow while discussing latest trends on slot machines and casino management systems as well as marketing strategies.

Advansys, which has obtained the AAA credit rating in Europe in the last three years, has been certified as one of the most excellent companies in France for five years in a row. The company also has certificates that can be generally recognized in the United States, Australia and Asia as well as in Europe and specializes in developing slot machine and table game management systems.

"This agreement will help Kangwon Land gain a greater foothold in the slot machine manufacturing business, its new growth engine," CEO Lee said during the agreement ceremony. "We will do our best to expand sales of KL Saberi slot machines in the global slot machine market through our continuous cooperation with Advansys and lay the groundwork for our durable growth by adding to our technical prowess related to non-face-to-face casinos."

KL Saberi slot machines are being packaged to be exported abroad. Courtesy of Kangwon Land

Kangwon Land stakes its future on KL Saberi

Kangwon Land's own slot machine has been branded "KL Saberi," named after the geographical name, Sabe-ri in Taebaek City, the closed mine area where the company's slot machine manufacturing plant is located. "Saberi" also means "patience and fortitude" in Persian, indicating Kangwon Land's trailblazing commitment to localizing slot machines.

Kangwon Land began manufacturing slot machines in 2017, going beyond its conventional casino operation. Austria's Novomatic is a typical company operating casinos and developing and producing slot machines simultaneously, and such companies are very few around the world.

The night view of High1 Resort operated by Kangwon Land / Courtesy of Kangwon Land

Kangwon Land's casino is operating 1,360 game machines. The replacement period of slot machines is seven years, and it costs nearly 4 billion won (about $3 million) a year to replace 100 machines on average as each machine is priced at 40 million won or so.

Instead of importing slot machines from the U.S., Australia and Austria, Kangwon Land manufactured its own KL Saberi machines and provided 280 of them to its casino, thereby triggering an effect of saving replacement cost worth 9.6 billion won and stemming the outflow of foreign currency.

At the same time, Kangwon Land's slot machine development is expected to prompt economic impacts from the win-win perspective such as job creation and promotion of related small and medium-sized companies in Korea.

To begin manufacturing slot machines in earnest in the future, Kangwon Land is pushing for a plan to build a slot machine production plant in Taebaek, one of the four closed mine cities and counties in Gangwon Province.

At present, 20 development and sales personnel are working at the venue where the machine manufacturing plant will be established. When the plant is completed, about 80 more people will be employed in such jobs as manufacturing, education, training, administrative support and services, raising high hopes for greater job creation in the closed mine areas.