G3-247 Report SOUTH KOREA
Gaming dynasty When we talk about gambling in Asia, Macau, the Philippines and Singapore invariably spring to mind. However, there is one sleeping giant that’s often overlooked. South Korea has an established casino market and there are expansion plans on the horizon.
The name Korea is derived from Goryeo (also known as Koryo) which was the first Korean dynasty which ruled in the Middle Ages. The dynasty was established in 918 by King Taejo and the kingdom later gave its name to the state of Korea.
South Korea, or officially the Republic of Korea, is locat- ed in East Asia and makes up the southern part of the mountainous Korean Peninsula. It shares a land border with North Korea and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea, the Korean Strait and East China Sea with overseas borders with China and Japan.
South Korea is divided into four general regions – the eastern region of high mountain ranges and narrow coastal plains, the western region of broad coastal plains, river basins and rolling hills, the south western region of mountains and valleys and the south east dominated by the broad basin of the Nakdong River.
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About 3,000 small and mostly uninhabited islands lie off the western and southern coasts of South Korea. The biggest, Jeju-do is about 100km off the south coast and is home to Hallasan the extinct volcano.
The are nine provinces – Chungbuk, Chungnam, Gangwon, Gyeonggi, Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam, Jeju, Jeonbuk and Jeonnam. Plus six metropolitan cities – Busan, Daegu, Daejon, Gwangju, Incheon and Ulsan, one special city (Seoul) which has a population of around 10 million and one special self governing city (Sejong)
The history of Korea begins with the founding of Gojoseon in 2333BC by the legendary Dangun. After the Three Kingdoms of Korea were united Korea was then ruled by the Goryeo Dynasty from 918 until 1392 and then the Joseon Dynasty thereafter until 1910.
After the First Sino Japanese War and the Russo Japanese
War the country was annexed by Japan in 1910 until 1945. At the end of World War II Japan surrendered to Soviet and US forces who then occupied the northern and southern halves of Korea respectively.
Despite the initial plan of a unified Korea antagonism escalated between the Soviet and US and eventually this led to the set up of two separate governments each with its own ideology leading to Korea’s division in 1948 – North Korea and South Korea.
In the south, Syngman Rhee, an opponent of commu- nism, won the first presidential elections of the newly declared Republic and in the north a former anti Japanese guerrilla and communist activist, Kim II-sung was appointed premier of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Both leaders began an authoritarian repression of their
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