The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at hzl.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Expectations for earnings to normalize upon recovery of casino accessibility amid discussions on endemic transition are rising. Variables related to Macau’s tightening of junket regulations still e
Cyber threats presumably from North Korea and for the purpose of money have become more and more frequent in South Korea since the 2010s.In the early stage, the most common form was malicious codes in illegal gambling software. In 2014, the prosecution caught three South Koreans who colluded with pr
Mobile game company Netmarble has decided to acquire "SpinX," the world's third-largest social casino company, in an effort to boost the competitiveness in its overseas business. It has decided to buy a 100 percent stake in SpinX for 2.5 trillion won in cash. If realized, it will go down in hist
The authors are analysts of Shinhan Investment Corp. They can be reached at jwsung79@shinhan.com and hanny.lee@shinhan.com, respectively. -- Ed. Uptrend in earnings expected given vaccination, table earnings and revenue capWe expect Kangwon Land to have touched bottom in 1Q21 and see a gradual uptre
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at hzl.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. We upgrade our rating on Kangwon Land to Buy. In the short term, the casino should enjoy strong pent-up demand upon a nationwide easing in the Covid-19 crisis. Over the mid/long term, the firm’s sh
ERB, attracted $ 1 billion of investment from McKINLEY Investment, LLC. USA., starts to expand its market. Starting with Singapore, decided to target Thailand and Vietnam market. McKINLEY Investment, LLC. USA., is not widely known to the general public, mainly by establishing business partnerships w
As the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to officially classify gaming addiction as a disease, the South Korean government has also started the procedure to add it as a disease. The WHO’s decision-making body approved the inclusion of gaming addiction in the new international classification of
SOMESING, a Korean startup that provides a blockchain-based karaoke serice, said on April 3 that the beta version of its app, which was released at the end of February, has been downloaded more than 10,000 times within 10 days from its release, with the number of users continuing to increase and act
What is your personal background?I graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with degrees in Math and Computer Science. Regarding my experience in the lottery industry, I worked with International Game Technology as a consultant for 11 years. I then formed Dong Hang Lottery consortiu
The competitive landscape of blockchain platforms is now reorganizing as new platforms under development by South Korea’s major information technology (IT) companies are expected to start commercial services soon.In the past, the completely-open blockchain platforms, such as Ethereum and EOS, attrac
The South Korean government has decided to exclude cryptocurrency exchanges from venture firm certification. As a result, cryptocurrency exchanges will see their corporate and income taxes double and cannot benefit any more from a 75 percent cut in acquisition tax. In addition, their privileges in s
Bithumb, the largest virtual currency exchange in Korea, announced on June 20 that it has suffered damage from hacking. Bithumb said 35 billion won (US$31 million) worth of virtual money was stolen, including Ripple.The announcement fueled disbelief in the domestic cryptocurrency trading industry as
With an investment fever about virtual currencies such as bit coins showing no sign of cooling off, it is pointed out that virtual currency exchanges are rather encouraging speculation. This is because virtual currency exchanges allow investors to short-buy or short-sell foreign currencies up to fou
“We are planning to raise the overseas and alternative investment ratio from 25 percent at the end of last year to 37 percent by 2017. In order to do so, we have divided the existing foreign investment team into two divisions – Team 1 for stocks and bonds and Team 2 for alternative investment – to i
Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) announced on Sept. 7 that the three foreigner-only casinos under its Seven Luck brand surpassed the 1 million mark in terms of attendance as of Aug. 26, 2015.The average daily number of visitors of Seven Luck casinos reached nearly 4,900 from Jan. to the end of May 2015. Ho
Korean cruise casino operations for foreign passengers will be possible as early as next year.The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries unveiled on July 28 that an ordinance to permit cruise casinos was approved at the latest cabinet meeting. The ordinance will come into effect from Aug. 4, but the gover
Samsung Electronics is emerging as a big player in the global M&A market, as shown by its purchase of four foreign companies over the past six months. Over the period, the Korean firm has bought many kinds of companies in different manners. Suffering from declining smartphone sales, Samsung is gambl
The amount of illegal and obscene content accessible through foreign web sites such as Google and YouTube is increasing, but the supervising body is overlooking this.Congressman Song Ho-chang of the Science, ICT, Future Planning, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee of the National Assembly an
Chinese real estate developers are turning their eyes to casinos in Korea and Australia, amid the slump in the Chinese realty market.According to a recent report of the Morning Whistle Group, a foreign investment consultant in China, leading real estate developers in China are moving ahead with a se
Social welfare professor Jung Sul-ki at Choongang University pointed out that Korea spent over 109 trillion won (US$107 billion) in social costs due to four types of addiction - alcohol, gambling, drug and online games - and more than 10 percent of the population is addicted to at least one of the f