Kangwon Land, the only casino resort in the country where domestic gambling is allowed, has decided to extend the temporary closure of the game center for a second time.
The resort (pictured) will now see its casinos closed until 6 a.m. on March 9. Kangwon Land, the casino operator, originally announced the temporary closure from noon on Feb. 23 to 6 a.m. on Feb. 26 but extended it until 6 a.m. on Feb. 29.
The company said in a filing with the Korea Exchange on Friday that it was increasing its estimate of casino sales losses to about 55 billion won during the closure period as a result of a second extension of the closure.
The original closure was described as a precautionary measure related to the outbreak of COVID-19 infections in the country.
However, the Kangwon Land company, which, while listed, is significantly supervised by the country's government, has yet to clarify whether it has been ordered to close by state authorities or has done so voluntarily.
South Korea recorded 595 new coronavirus-related infections in a 24-hour period as of 9 a.m. on Sunday, bringing the country's confirmed cases to 3,526, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Seven of the confirmed cases were in Gangwon Province as of 9 a.m. Sunday, according to the watchdog. The province is where the Gangwon Land resort is located. The majority of the country's confirmed cases, a total of 2,569, were in the city of Daegu, the epicenter of the Korean outbreak.
China currently has the world's second-highest number of cases after China. As of 9 a.m. on Sunday, South Korea had recorded 17 deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new virus first reported in mainland China's Hubei province.
As of Thursday, Paradise Inc., one of South Korea's foreign-only casino operators, told GGRAsia it was "not yet considering" shutting down its operations against the backdrop of a surge in coronavirus infections.
GGRAsia also asked Grand Korea Leasure Co Ltd., another foreigner-only casino operator in Korea, if they planned to close the venue. We didn't hear back until this story went online.
Kangwon Land's net profit for the full year of 2019 rose 12.7% year-on-year, the company said earlier this month, helped by strong sales and lower costs. Those gains in the 12 months to Dec. 31 were 330.66 billion won, compared with nearly 297.24 billion won in 2018, according to its earnings report.