South Korean casino operator Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) has denied recruiting new customers overseas after Yonhap News Agency reported concerns about the legal risks surrounding its staff’s meetings with customers abroad.
Yonhap’s October 6th report cited an unnamed source familiar with GKL as saying employees and executives had visited Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Mongolia, with activities including meals with existing customers and purchasing gifts.
The source alleged that the company had not adequately managed the legal risks associated with overseas marketing.
“We do not engage in sales activities locally, such as directly encouraging casino visits or recruiting new customers,” GKL told Yonhap.
The operator said its work centered on responding to existing customers’ inquiries and requests, collecting feedback, and providing assistance with travel to South Korea and customer service.
GKL also said it had conducted no marketing-related business trips to mainland China since 2015.
China’s Criminal Law provides for penalties against those organizing Chinese citizens to participate in gambling overseas or across its borders when substantial sums or other serious circumstances are involved. Serious cases can carry prison terms of five to 10 years.
Yonhap noted that whether customer meetings constituted such activity would depend on the conduct involved, while any application of Chinese law would also require consideration of criminal jurisdiction.
GKL employees were among South Korean casino staff arrested in China in 2015 in connection with customer recruitment, according to Yonhap. The company said it had conducted no marketing-related business trips to mainland China since that incident.
