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Hallyu, the Korean cultural wave sweeping Asia, has hit the casino business. In Incheon, near Seoul, foreign billionaires are squaring off against a government backed national champion for licenses to build integrated resorts. Meanwhile, the south coast resort island of Jeju could become a new front in the battle for Manila market share. That’s a lot of excitement about building gaming resorts where locals can’t play, in a market where revenue at foreigner-only casinos rose a paltry 0.3% last year to 1.36 trillion Korean won (KW; $1.25 billion).

In January, South Korea’s government announced plans to license two casino resorts this year with a minimum investment of KW1 trillion, likely within the Incheon Special Economic Zone outside the capital, Seoul. Korean citizens can only play at one of the country’s 17 casinos, remote Kangwon Land, which has revenue matching the other 16. Foreigner-only casino development in Korea is a play on booming Chinese tourism. Last year, Korea’s Chinese arrivals reached 6.33 million, up 46% from 2013, and nearly five times more than in 2009. Chinese have displaced Japanese as Korea’s main casino customers.

Philippine billionaire Enrique Razon’s Bloomberry Resorts is among contenders for a Korean casino license to attract Chinese players and bring Koreans to Solaire Resort and Casino, shown here, in Manila. (Photo credit: AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

The government has already granted licenses in Incheon to Korean casino operator Paradise, which broke ground in November for a $1.7 billion integrated resort adjacent to the country’s main gateway airport in partnership with Japanese gaming machine manufacturer Sega Sammy, and a group led by US casino giant Caesars Entertainment, for a KW1 trillion IR. Paradise says its IR’s “Koreaness” will be a key selling point.

At least three contenders have emerged for the two new licenses. Hong Kong billionaire Cheng Yu-tung, a longtime investor in casino magnate Stanley Ho’s Sociedade de Turismo de Macau, parent company of SJM Holdings SJM Holdings, signed a letter of intent in November to invest $1.6 billion for an Incheon IR, through his privately held Chow Tai Fook Enterprises. Cheng’s holdings include jewelry retailer Chow Tai Fook and property to telecom conglomerate New World.

Bloomberry Resorts, owner of Manila’s Solaire Resort and Casino, bought beachfront land on an island off Incheon in January and a whole island opposite the first plot last month. The company, controlled by Philippine ports magnate Enrique Razon Jr, hopes to build a beach resort on the islands, popular for their relatively pristine condition and known in China after appearing on popular Korean television shows, according to Seoul’s KORE Policy & Management Consulting.

This week, GGR Asia reported Grand Korea Leisure announced plans to build a KW2 trillion resort in Incheon. GKL operates three foreigner-only casinos under its Seven Luck brand that have run second to Paradise properties in recent years. But GKL is controlled by the government’s Korea Tourism Organization, which may give it a leg up against foreigners in the casino license race. GKL lists an eclectic group of project partners including Native American casino operator Mohegan Sun, Macau junket promoter Tak Chun Group and Donaco International, an Australian listed company headed by Joey Lim, grandson of Genting Group founder Lim Goh Tong. Donaco owns Aristo International in northern Vietnam, near the border with China’s Yunnan Province, and is buying Star Vegas, a top property on Cambodia’s Poipet casino strip bordering Thailand, the closest legal gaming destination to Bangkok as the bus rolls.

Down in Jeju, Bloomberry bought LVegas Casino, the lowest grossing of eight small casino on the holiday island, where Chinese travelers enjoy visa free access. Perhaps most important, LVegas comes with a gaming license that, with Jeju government approval, could be transferred to an integrated resort on the island.