Cabinet approves casino cruise ships in Korea

Korean casino cruise ships for foreign gamblers are set to open its doors as early as next year.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on Tuesday that an ordinance to allow cruise casinos was approved at the latest cabinet meeting.

The ordinance, which was purposely created to support the cruise tourism industry in Korea, will take effect on August 4 but the government assumed that the casino cruise ships operators will need more time to turn their ships into a gambling facility.

According to the ordinance, the cruise operator should have an “investment appropriate” grade given by credit-rating institutions. The size of the casino will be limited to 2,600 square meters for 100,000+ ton vessels and less than 1,300 square meters for vessels smaller than 100,000 tons.