Number of customers banned from entering Kangwon Land increases by 86%... ‘Loophole’ in the access restriction lifting procedure

There is no obligation for consultation or education before release… “We need to start with healing and follow-up care.”

(Jeongseon = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Young-seo = While the number of visitors to Kangwon Land Casino has increased by 19% over the past three years, the number of customers banned from entering has increased by 86%, leading to the need to strengthen the management system ranging from counseling and healing to lifting access restrictions.

According to data received from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Kangwon Land by Jin Seon-mi, a member of the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea on the 14th, the number of casino visitors was 2,083,513 in 2022, 2,413,082 in 2023, 2,373,346 in 2024, and 2,478,658 in 2025 over the three years. It increased by 19% (395,145 people).

On the other hand, the number of customers prohibited from entering increased by 86.4% (2,601 people) over the past three years: 3,011 in 2022, 4,213 in 2023, 5,984 in 2024, and 5,612 in 2025.

Compared to the growth rate, this figure is approximately 4.6 times the number of visitors.

While the number of customers banned from entering has increased rapidly, the number of people using treatment programs related to gambling problems has also more than doubled, from 307 in 2022 to 680 in 2025.

On the other hand, during this period, the number of professional counselors at the Mind Filling Center only increased by 4, from 9 to 13.

Accordingly, the number of people using the healing program per professional counselor increased from 34 to 52.

As the burden on counseling staff increases, it has been found that there are loopholes in the access restriction lifting process.

In the data submitted to the lawmaker's office, Kangwon Land stated that 'not applicable' regarding the counseling and education procedures and number of participants before lifting the access restriction.

Accordingly, Rep. Jin pointed out that the problem is that counseling and education and reuse risk assessment are not mandatory before lifting access restrictions.

He emphasized, “The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Kangwon Land must closely analyze the reasons for the ban and the progress after the ban is lifted. We need to establish procedures for counseling and education and re-use risk inspection prior to lift, and a management system that connects from treatment programs to follow-up management after lift.”