Gambling in South Korea for Tourists

Where tourists can legally gamble in South Korea

If you are visiting South Korea on a foreign passport, the casino world is open to you. Tourists will find more than twenty casinos scattered throughout the country, from Seoul and Incheon in the north to Busan in the south and Jeju Island off the coast⁵. The catch, and it is the single most important thing to know, is that almost all of these casinos exist for foreigners only, as noted above: Korean casinos are foreigner-exclusive by design, and entry requires a passport so staff can check your nationality.

What should you actually carry? For a first visit, the operator guidance is specific. Bring your passport, which is mandatory. If you live in Korea rather than just visiting, also bring your domestic residence report card for a foreign-national Korean or your alien registration card, and if the casino asks for extra proof, a certificate of alien registration facts issued on demand at a community center². Emigrants returning to Korea bring a passport with recent stamps, a permanent resident card of any form, and a copy of the resident registration with the emigration declaration².

One more practical point: casinos may refuse admission if your period of stay in Korea cannot be confirmed². So keep your entry stamp or visa documentation in order before you head to the tables.

For the broader picture of what is legal and who may take part, see our page on gambling in South Korea, and for venue-by-venue detail, casinos in South Korea.

Legal forms of gambling: casinos, racing, lottery and more

Casinos are only one part of the legal gambling landscape. The official list of legal forms in South Korea runs to seven: casinos, horse racing, cycle racing, boat racing, lotteries, sports promotion voting tickets and bullfighting⁴. Each of these is run by a state-backed operator, and most are aimed at Korean citizens as much as visitors, which makes them quite different from the foreigner-only casino floors.

The games split into two broad groups. Chance-based games include lotteries, slot machines, roulette, video poker and baccarat. Games with a skill element include horse racing, cycle racing, boat racing, poker and blackjack⁶.

If a particular form appeals, we have dedicated pages: horse racing in South Korea, cycle racing betting, motorboat racing betting, sports betting in South Korea and the South Korea lottery. Visitors can take part in racing and lottery products on the same terms as locals, since these are not gated by nationality the way casino floors are.

Foreigner-only casinos: which ones and where

There are 16 foreigner-only casinos in South Korea⁷. They cluster in and around Seoul, Incheon, Busan and Jeju, and most sit inside or attached to major hotels, which makes them easy to fold into a trip you are already taking. Here are the ones you are most likely to encounter:

A few of these deserve a closer look.

Paradise Casino Walkerhill holds a special place in the story: it was the first casino in South Korea, and it remains the oldest foreigner-only casino in the country⁸. It sits in the Grand Walkerhill Hotel, overlooking the Han River in Seoul¹⁵. If you want to play poker, Walkerhill is a reliable address: in Seoul, Paradise Walkerhill and the Seven Luck Casino (Gangnam COEX and Dragon City) are known for consistent 24/7 cash games¹. We cover the venue in detail at Paradise Casino Walkerhill and Seven Luck Casino.

Paradise City, next to Incheon International Airport, is the flagship of the group. It is the largest foreigner-only casino in Korea⁸, a K-Style premium casino for foreigners only¹⁶. The rule is stated bluntly at the door: it is a casino for foreign nationals and holders of overseas permanent residence only, and Korean nationals are barred from entry¹⁷. See our full page on Paradise City Casino for entry rules, games and getting there.

On Jeju, the choice is unusually wide for one island. The Jeju KAL Hotel Casino is the largest casino on the island and is foreigners-only¹¹. The Hyatt Regency casino sits in the Jungmun Tourist Complex, with views of Jungmun Beach and Hallasan, about 40 minutes by car from Jeju City and the airport and 20 minutes from Seogwipo¹². Paradise Casino Jeju Grand is inside the Maison Glad hotel¹². Our casinos in Jeju page walks through all of them.

One older name worth knowing is the Golden Gate Casino, which has long operated as a foreigner-exclusive venue¹⁸.

Do not expect the door check to be a formality. The National Gambling Control Commission's plan calls on foreigner-only casinos to strengthen their nationality screening procedures and the management of customer data¹⁹. Staff will look at your passport properly, so have it ready rather than in your hotel safe.

Kangwon Land: the one casino Koreans can enter

Kangwon Land Casino, at the High1 Resort in the mountains of Gangwon Province, is the only casino in South Korea that Korean residents and foreigners can enter together³. It is also the largest casino in the country, and it was the first casino-style hotel in Korea open to both Korean nationals and overseas visitors²⁰. Its existence comes from special legislation that permits exactly one casino business allowing access for both domestic nationals and foreigners¹⁸.

For you as a visitor, two things matter. First, yes, you can play there: Kangwon Land grants admission to foreign visitors alongside Korean citizens²¹. Second, the entry rules are stricter than at the foreigner-only venues. Bring your passport, because a driver's license is not accepted. Customers with expatriate passports showing permanent residence, and citizens of South Korea, are granted admission pursuant to the Emigration Act²².

The resort markets itself as Korea's one and only casino for Koreans and foreigners alike²³, and it sits in a remote mountainous region²¹, so it is a destination trip rather than a stop on a city itinerary. We cover it in full at Kangwon Land Casino at High1 Resort.

Online gambling: prohibited for residents, unclear for visitors

Online gambling in South Korea is prohibited, even though some forms of land-based gambling are legal²⁴. The ban is not a dead letter: the authorities have made it clear that those caught gambling online can face penalties and charges²⁴.

For Korean citizens the position is unambiguous. It is illegal for Korean citizens to participate in any form of online gambling, and those caught have been heavily punished²⁵. Citizens are advised not to join international online casinos, or else they will face prosecution and punishment²⁴. In fact, gambling is generally a crime for Korean nationals even when traveling abroad, a rule rooted in the Criminal Act²⁶.

For visitors, the honest answer is that the rules are simply not written with you in mind. The prohibition and its enforcement are framed around Korean citizens and residents, and nothing in the official material creates a legal online option for a tourist on a short stay. Practically, that means there is no licensed online casino or betting site you can legally use while in the country, so the foreigner-only casino floors are where your gambling happens. We go deeper on online gambling in South Korea and online betting sites in South Korea elsewhere.

What the rules do not cover

The core rule behind the whole system is one line of the Tourism Promotion Act: a casino operator must not allow Korean nationals to enter, with the exception of overseas migrants as defined by the Act²⁷. That is why the foreigner-only casinos check passports so carefully, and why the industry as a whole is open only to foreign visitors while domestic gambling is tightly controlled²⁸.

But several situations fall outside the neat citizen-versus-tourist divide, and it is worth knowing where the edges are:

• Korean citizens abroad. The rules follow nationality, not location. As noted above, gambling is generally treated as a crime for Korean nationals even when traveling abroad²⁶, so a Korean passport holder cannot escape the rules by playing in another country and cannot enter the foreigner-only casinos at home.
• Overseas migrants and permanent residents abroad. The Tourism Promotion Act carves out overseas migrants from the ban on Korean nationals entering casinos²⁷, and Kangwon Land admits customers with expatriate passports showing permanent residence under the Emigration Act²². If you are a Korean national with permanent residence abroad, bring the documents that prove it.
• Foreign residents in Korea. You can enter the foreigner-only casinos, but the operators want more than a passport: your alien registration card and, if asked, a certificate of alien registration facts². Admission can be refused if your period of stay cannot be confirmed².
• Visitors and online play. As covered above, the online prohibition is enforced against citizens and residents, and no legal online route exists for visitors either. The rules do not spell out a tourist exception, so treat online gambling as off the table during your stay.

The practical takeaway is simple. As a visitor with a foreign passport, the casino floors of Seoul, Incheon, Busan and Jeju are open to you, along with the racing tracks, cycle and boat racing venues, lottery counters and sports toto outlets that Koreans themselves use. Bring your passport, be 19 or older, and keep your stay documentation in order, and the whole legal gambling offer of the country is available to you.