Yonhap report questions Grand Korea Leisure’s China marketing activities

Yonhap News Agency reported on 6 October 2026 that it has received allegations — from an unnamed source — that foreigner-only casino operator Grand Korea Leisure could be directly soliciting customers in China and its Special Administrative Regions. The report says GKL has in recent years sent marketing staff and senior executives on business trips to Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mongolia where they allegedly engaged in customer-management activities that may cross into criminal territory under Chinese law.

What Yonhap says about GKL China marketing activities

The Yonhap article quotes a source who claims that “for the past three years, GKL has consistently sent employees to places like Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Mongolia to meet local customers in person.” The source named specific behaviours: dining with existing clients and buying gifts for them, and singled out trips by GKL’s head of marketing to Hong Kong and Macau earlier in 2026.

The anonymous source contrasted routine benchmarking visits with direct solicitation: “There is a fundamental difference between touring casino facilities or meeting local officials for benchmarking purposes and directly meeting customers to solicit casino visits. In the latter case, a thorough prior review is required to ensure compliance with both local and Chinese laws.” Yonhap also reported concerns that these activities could violate Chinese criminal law if they go beyond relationship management.

GKL response and company position

Grand Korea Leisure denied the accusations in a written statement to Yonhap. The company said: “We do not engage in sales activities locally, such as directly soliciting casino visits or recruiting new customers. Our operations focus on responding to inquiries and requests from existing customers, gathering customer feedback and providing support for travel to Korea and general customer service.”

GKL also told Yonhap that “since the 2015 incident, we have not conducted any marketing-related business trips to China.” The company operates three casinos in Seoul and Busan under the Seven Luck brand and is a leading foreigner-only casino operator in South Korea.

Legal backdrop: Chinese criminal law and Article 303(3)

China amended its Criminal Law in December 2020 via Criminal Law Amendment (XI) to criminalise organising Chinese citizens to gamble overseas. The amendment introduced Article 303(3), which states that anyone who organises Chinese citizens to participate in overseas gambling, where the amount involved is substantial or other serious circumstances exist, is to be punished under the provisions governing the operation of a casino.

Penalties under the provision range from a maximum of five years’ imprisonment, detention and a fine for ordinary cases, to between five and 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine in serious cases. Chinese authorities have made clear the provision applies irrespective of the organiser’s nationality and covers both physical visits to overseas casinos and online cross-border gambling.

Historical context: 2015 and 2016 arrests, and later scrutiny

Yonhap’s report explicitly evokes a previous enforcement episode. In 2015 Chinese authorities arrested 14 South Korean casino employees employed by Grand Korea Leisure and Paradise Co for recruiting Chinese citizens to gamble. Chinese travel agency employees were also arrested at the time. The allegations then centred on incentives reportedly offered to Chinese customers, including free flights, free accommodation and entertainment to entice travel to Korea.

The 2015 actions against South Korean casino staff were followed by a broader set of law-enforcement moves. In October 2016, Chinese authorities arrested 19 employees of Australia’s Crown Resorts in connection with similar recruitment activity. Subsequent inquiries into Crown in 2020 and 2021 found that the company had discussed the Korea arrests as a warning it did not fully heed.

Related domestic scrutiny and financials

Yonhap’s story arrives while GKL faces other regulatory attention in South Korea. South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is reported to have opened an investigation into allegations that the company may have artificially inflated 2025 visitor numbers to improve management evaluations.

GKL reported total casino revenue of KRW227.2 billion (US$148 million) for the six months to 30 June 2026, representing an 8.2% year-on-year increase. The company operates under the Seven Luck brand across its three foreigner-only properties in Seoul and Busan. Readers seeking regulatory context can consult the regulators coverage and the operator’s consumer-facing product listings at casino.

What this means for operators and regulators

The Yonhap report puts attention back on cross-border marketing practices and how operators manage compliance risk when staff meet customers overseas. The key compliance questions raised by sources and by the wording of Article 303(3) are:

1. Were the overseas visits purely customer service and benchmarking, or did they involve active recruitment?

2. Did the activities include inducements that would fall within the meaning of organising Chinese citizens to gamble overseas?

3. Has GKL applied a legal review before each customer-facing trip to high-risk jurisdictions?

Regulators in China and South Korea will assess behaviour against the Criminal Law amendment and domestic licensing conditions. The ministry-level probe in Seoul adds a parallel domestic compliance angle for GKL.

“We do not engage in sales activities locally, such as directly soliciting casino visits or recruiting new customers,” GKL told Yonhap, insisting its overseas work is limited to responding to inquiries and supporting travel to Korea.

The report leaves open factual questions that only an investigatory body or court can resolve. Yonhap’s sourcing is anonymous; GKL’s denial is explicit. The operational and legal risks, however, are concrete: the Criminal Law provision carries prison terms and fines and applies to foreign nationals organising Chinese citizens to gamble overseas.

Possible next steps and what to watch

Investigations by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and any follow-up by Chinese authorities will determine whether facts warrant sanctions or criminal charges. Market participants and vendors that provide compliance and travel-management services to foreigner-only operators should expect renewed demand for legal-review protocols, travel approvals, and auditable customer-interaction records.

Market observers should watch for formal statements from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, any follow-up reporting by Yonhap, and for whether Chinese authorities open a parallel inquiry. The factual record will hinge on travel dates, meeting participants, and the nature of any incentives offered to customers.