Daily NK
Han Yong Jin
6/14/2007
[NKeconWatch: Lots of pictures in original article]
The Emperor Hotel and Casino in Rajin-Sunbong has re-opened. It had earlier been a source of Chinese authority concern over remote gambling as the casino attempted to attract foreign tourists.
The North Korean regime designated Rajin and Sunbong as a special free economics and trade zone in December, 1991 and encouraged foreign businesses to locate there. Hong Kong’s Emperor Group opened a five star hotel with 100 guest rooms and a casino in July, 2000.
However, Cai Haowen, a superintendent at the Transportation Ministry in Yanbian-Zhou, embezzled approximately $425,000 of public funds and threw away all the money for gambling in the Emperor Hotel Casino, causing the Chinese government to close the hotel’s casino on January 11st, 2004.
Chinese bloggers who have visited the hotel released photos through a Chinese portal site, sina.com.
Bao Yong visited the Emperor in April and noted that the hotel is 50 km from Huichun, China, and the only tourists were Chinese. North Koreans were not permitted and there was no evidence of Russians. There were just Chinese cars with license plates from Liaoning, Heilongjiang, and, predominantly, Yanbian in the parking lot.
He said that “the strict hotel and casino management seemed more like agents or gangsters than managers, who were everywhere, creepily scrutinizing gamblers’ movement and attitudes.” They prevented him from taking photos inside the casino.
