On Wednesday, July 10th, Kim Hyeong, the former CEO of Jeju Lotte Hotel LT Casino, was found guilty. The Jeju District Court convicted Kim Hyeong of "obstruction of official duties," a serious charge that carries a heavy sentence.
Kim was found to have manipulated the results of a 2021 investigation aimed at assessing the social impact of transferring the existing casino license to the newly built Jeju Dream Tower Resort. This luxurious new casino complex is the culmination of Lotte Tour Development Co., Ltd.'s efforts, and the investigation was intended to aid Jeju authorities in reference to the license transfer.
The court revealed that Kim had instructed the polling company to find "groups supporting the casino," resulting in a severe distortion of the survey results—a deviation of up to 20%. This manipulation particularly tainted the survey section intended to represent the residents' views. Besides Kim, two other individuals involved in the survey confessed and were sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, and 4 months in prison, suspended for one year, respectively.
A report released by GGRAsia on July 12th disclosed details of the court's ruling. According to GGRAsia's interview with officials from the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, the conviction should not disrupt the operations of Jeju Dream Tower. However, the official did note that any administrative litigation raised by other parties could pose challenges to the relocation process.
Since the Jeju local legislative body first approved the gambling operations of Jeju Dream Tower in March 2021, there have been concerns about this election fraud. The police have launched an investigation to uncover the truth, but so far, nothing has been found. The LT Casino closed in April 2021, and the license transfer to Jeju Dream Tower proceeded as planned. The new casino opened in June 2021.
