Former Gyeonggi Tourism Organization President Lim Byung-soo gives his inaugural speech 

as he took office as the fourth president of Grand Korea Leisure (GKL), the operator of the 

“Seven Luck Casino” franchise for foreigners, in Korea on Sept. 13.

Former Gyeonggi Tourism Organization President Lim Byung-soo took office as the fourth president of Grand Korea Leisure (GKL), the operator of the “Seven Luck Casino” franchise for foreigners in Korea.

New GKL President Lim delivered a speech at his inaugural ceremony on Sept. 13 in which he pledged to make his company equal to those in any other country. Lim said, “I will devote myself to respecting the values of the future vision between labor and management, calling for labor-management cooperation and co-prosperity, and making it an enjoyable workplace.”

Meanwhile, on the same day, GKL management and labor declared the “Future Vision,” calling for implementing improvements of working conditions, mutual development between management and labor, and “creative management.” 

Lim held such prominent positions at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) as the director-general of the Tourism Bureau, the director-general in charge of culture and industry, the consul-general cum cultural center chief, and the MCST deputy minister before being appointed president of Gyeonggi Tourism Organization (GTO). He recently served as the secretary-general of the Organization Committee of the 2013 PyeongChang Special Olympics. 

GKL has been operating the “Seven Luck” Casino franchise for foreigners in Korea since it was founded in September 2005. The company has greatly contributed to Korea’s economic development by attracting many foreign travelers ever since its founding.

Most countries with a large influx of tourists such as the United States, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom also offer long established casinos. Neighboring Asian countries such as Macao, Singapore, and the Philippines also make huge investments in casinos, developing them into a major strategic industry.

Countries are working to attract investments and promote the casino industry because of its positive impacts on many tourism sectors such as travel, accommodation, food, shopping, and convention services. Casinos also make a substantial contribution to their national economies and other industries by attracting many foreign travelers and creating jobs.

GKL, a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, runs Seven Luck Seoul Gangnam, Seoul Hilton, and Busan Lotte branches. The company, which employs 1,600 people, chalked up 560 billion won in sales in 2012. 

Donation to Kyongbuk Science College

GKL contributed 500 million won worth of academic experimental equipment such as CCTV surveillance cameras and computers to the Security Casino Business Management Department of Kyongbuk Science College.  

The department is designed to educate manpower in surveillance and casino dealing. It is the sole college department dealing with the surveillance field in Korea, which began enrollment last year. With the donation, the department is now equipped with the nation’s top-rated systems for educating manpower in the surveillance and casino security fields.

Seasoned professional surveillance and casino dealers from GKL, Daegu Casino, and Kangwon Land teach the students in the department under an agreement on nurturing and employing gifted manpower, signed by GKL and Kyongbuk Science College this past February. 

Kyongbuk Science College Dean Do Jung-ki said, “Our school will contribute to the development of the tourism casino industry by developing top-rated experts with a first class education.”

Jung Soo-yong, a GKL team chief, said, “I hope that more gifted manpower from Gyeongbuk Science College will come to our company to find jobs.”