South Korean Casino-Resort Operator Kangwon Land Launches Summer Flower Festival
Image: Kangwon Land

The Kangwon Land resort High1, the only integrated casino complex in South Korea that admits domestic bettors, has launched a summer flower festival.

Per Yonhap News, the operator is holding the festival, named the 2025 High1 Flower Festa, at its ski resort. The event will run from June 13 to June 29.

The resort’s botanists say they have planted a wide range of wildflowers on the resort’s ski slopes. These include European daisies and the much larger Shasta daisies.

Kangwon Land Resort: Flower Festival at High1 Resort

Visitors will be able to walk along paths through the flower-filled slopes. Alternatively, they can take an hour-long ride through the slopes in electric-powered carts.

A cart in Kangwon land.
Image: Kangwon Land

They can also use ski lifts and cable cars to rise above the slopes and take in a birds-eye view of the wildflower fields.

The operator said it had also created a range of photo zones on the slopes, featuring angelic wings, a mini windmill, and a piano in a flower-filled garden area.

On its website, High1 explained that it had also created a Flower Festa Picnic package product, which comprises a picnic meal and a night’s stay in the resort’s hotel or condos.

Mountain Views and Casino Gaming

Its cafe, High1 claimed, allows visitors an unrivalled view of the northern parts of the Baekdudaegan Mountain Range. The latter is a network of peaks that runs north to south along the Korean Peninsula.

High1 says it has also created a local food zone, with trailers providing guests with a range of Gangwon Province delicacies.

The operator says the festival will also feature live music performances from independent artists. There will also be magic shows, as well as bubble and balloon art performances for younger visitors.

Lee Min-ho, the resort’s Marketing Planning Director, said that the “dazzling beauty of the wild flowers” provided a perfect backdrop to the “blue skies of early summer” at High1.

Kangwon Land first opened to the public in October 2000, becoming the first hotel-casino in the nation with the right to admit South Korean passport holders.

High1 reported 620,000 guest visits during Q125 and reported a 5.5% year-on-year increase in total bets, suggesting strong engagement during festive periods.

The current gaming space is over 27,000 square-metres and features over 200 table games and 1,360 slot machines. Under expansion plans, capacity could increase to 250 tables and 1,860 slots. There has also been discussion around a new, secondary casino which could help alleviate crowding during peak-season.

Kangwon Land’s ownership structure is somewhat complex. The South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy’s Mine Reclamation Corporation holds a 36.27% stake in the operator.

The Gangwon Province government-run Gangwon Development Corporation holds a 6.11% share, with National Pension Service owning 5.58%.

Earlier this month, police in Gyeonggi Province arrested four people suspected of operating an illegal gambling and casino portal that processed bets worth 24.9 billion won ($18.2 million).

Tim Alper
Tim Alper

Tim is a journalist, author, and columnist with two decades of experience writing for outlets like the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He is an expert on regulation, business, and industry...