Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd (GKL), an operator in South Korea of foreigner-only casinos, says closure of its two Seoul venues and one Busan venue will be extended to January 18 at 9am, from a prior end date of Monday at 9am.

The venues were temporarily suspended from November 24 as pandemic countermeasures.

The group also said in a Monday filing to the Korea Exchange that – as a result of the extended closures – it was upping its estimated loss of casino net sales to about KRW21.5 billion (US$19.9 million), from KRW16 billion previously. The forecast was based on the average daily net sales from July to September.

The Grand Korea Leisure sites staying shuttered until January 18 are Gangnam COEX and Gangbuk Hilton in Seoul operated under the Seven Luck brand; and Busan Lotte in the southern port city of Busan.

The company said in filing that the reason for the venues to remain shut was because of the extension of social distancing measures in the nation.

Health authorities in South Korea on Saturday extended the so-called Level 2.5 distancing measures – the second highest in the five-tier scheme – for the greater Seoul area and Level 2 for the rest of the country until January 17.