Details of the Proposed Levy Change

Under the plan put forward by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the levy would rise by half, moving from its current 10% level to 15%, and the association has calculated that this adjustment alone would add significant cost pressure at a time when many properties continue to rebuild visitor numbers and stabilize cash flow after pandemic-related closures, while the revenue-based structure of the levy itself remains unique among South Korean industries and forms one of the core objections raised by the group.

Regulatory Burdens and License Renewal Issues

Five-year license renewal cycles add another layer of uncertainty, because operators must repeatedly demonstrate compliance and invest in upgrades without long-term certainty over their operating rights, and additional regulatory requirements cited by the association further compound operational costs and administrative workloads that do not exist in the same form for casino businesses operating in Southeast Asia or Japan.

Observers note that these combined factors reduce the ability of South Korean properties to compete on price, service offerings, and marketing flexibility against neighboring destinations that have adopted more streamlined tax and licensing frameworks in recent years.

Record Revenue Collection in 2025

Figures released for 2025 show that the tourism fund collected a record KRW219.5 billion from casino operations, and this strong performance occurred even as operators continued to navigate lingering effects of the pandemic, yet the association argues that the same revenue base now faces an increased extraction rate that could reverse recent gains and push marginal properties into insolvency.

Competitiveness Concerns Against Regional Markets

Operators have pointed out that Southeast Asian and Japanese casino destinations maintain different tax structures and longer license terms that allow greater reinvestment in facilities and marketing, and the association has stated that maintaining the current regulatory mix in South Korea risks diverting high-value foreign visitors away from domestic properties toward those lower-burden alternatives, while the revenue-based levy remains the only one of its kind applied to any industry in the country.

Industry statements emphasize that the combination of the proposed levy hike, short license periods, and other compliance costs creates an uneven playing field that the group believes will become more pronounced if the changes take effect without adjustments.

Association Position and Ministry Proposal

The Korea Casino Association has presented its concerns directly in response to the ministry proposal, and the statement outlines how the 50% increase in the levy rate would interact with existing recovery challenges to produce faster bankruptcies among operators that have only recently returned to positive territory, and the group has also called attention to the unique application of a revenue-based levy that does not appear in other sectors of the South Korean economy.

Conclusion

The proposed regulatory adjustments and the association’s detailed response set out a clear set of issues facing the foreigner-only casino segment in South Korea as of July 2026, and the record collection figure from 2025 provides context for the scale of revenue already being generated under the existing 10% rate, while the arguments regarding competitiveness with Southeast Asia and Japan remain central to the ongoing discussion between operators and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. N/A (association statement)