Kangwon Land Slot Machine Arm Posts Sixth Straight Annual Loss

Kangwon Land's slot machine manufacturing business has posted a loss every year since 2020, running up cumulative losses of KRW14.806 billion (about US$11.0 million) over six straight years, according to company data submitted to South Korea's National Assembly and reported by the Seoul Economic Daily. 

The figures were released on October 1, 2026, by the office of Koo Ja-keun, a People Power Party lawmaker who sits on the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee.

The business, launched by the state-run casino operator in 2017, lost KRW1.399 billion in 2020 and has widened its annual deficit most years since: roughly KRW2.4 billion in 2021, KRW2.23 billion in 2022, KRW2.74 billion in 2023, KRW2.91 billion in 2024 and KRW3.4 billion in 2025, per the disclosed figures.

Philippines Office Yet To Deliver Sales

Kangwon Land opened a local office in the Philippines in 2022 to widen its overseas sales channels for the slot machines. From the office's opening through August 2026, the company spent about KRW700 million (roughly US$520,300) on rent, staff housing and vehicle leases there, the data shows. 

Sales through that office fell from 42 units in 2024 to zero in 2025, then picked up to 6 units so far in 2026. 

The Philippines accounted for 88.31% of the 77 machines Kangwon Land has sold worldwide since the office opened, but no new distributors were signed, and no new contracts were reached. 

Kangwon Land said the Philippines is the exclusive territory of its distributor RGB, so the office's role was to manage that existing relationship and joint sales efforts rather than find new buyers.

Lawmaker Calls For Review Of The Operation

Koo said the arrangement needs scrutiny, given the cost of running a permanent office relative to the sales it has generated. 

He called for Kangwon Land to review whether the Philippines office is necessary at all, alongside how it manages the duties and overseas allowances paid to staff dispatched there.

The figures were submitted directly by Kangwon Land to Koo's office as part of his examination of the company's overseas operations ahead of this year's National Assembly audit season, and were first made public on October 1, 2026. 

The breakdown shows the annual loss actually fell in percentage terms between 2022 and 2023 before rising again, and that the steepest single-year jump came in 2025, when the deficit grew to KRW3.4 billion, an increase of roughly 17% on the previous year.

What To Watch

The disclosure adds scrutiny to one of the smaller business lines run by Kangwon Land, which also operates South Korea's only casino licensed for domestic gamblers alongside its wider slots manufacturing arm. 

Koo's office has not said whether it expects Kangwon Land to close its Philippine office outright or simply tighten its tracking of the performance of staff posted there, and Kangwon Land has not yet issued its own public response to the lawmaker's findings beyond the figures it supplied. 

Whether the National Assembly's findings prompt a formal restructuring of the Philippines operation, or simply tighter oversight of dispatched staff and their overseas allowances, will depend on how the company responds to Koo's review request in the coming weeks.