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Casino opening in North Korea

Monday, Aug. 2, 1999 | 11 a.m.

HONG KONG -- The Emperor Group of Hong Kong is opening a $180 million hotel-casino in an unlikely place: North Korea.

With no direct flights to the Rajin region, getting to the Seaview Casino Hotel isn't easy. Visitors must fly to Beijing, then to Yanji in Jilin province in China, and then take a four-hour drive across the border to Rajin.

North Koreans are not allowed to patronize the casino because gambling is frowned upon by the nation. But the secretive, impoverished country is trying to rebuild its economy and lure foreign investors with tax cuts and other incentives to the Rajin-Sonbong area, a free trade zone set up in the early 1990s.

Kenny Wong, an executive at Emperor, said the casino is targeting rich Chinese gamblers. The Northern Chinese are banned from most forms of gambling at home.

Visa restrictions limit visitors to Chinese for now, but Emperor hopes to cater soon to Russians and other foreigners who can obtain visas.

"People are quite amazed and fascinated by North Korea," Wong said.

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