Content Writer: Janice Chew • Friday, 26/08/2026 - 00:01:08 - AM
Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) has secured the long-term future of its flagship Seven Luck Casino Gangnam COEX location in Seoul, signing a new 10-year lease while simultaneously experimenting with medical and wellness tourism as a way to broaden the visitor experience.
The combination is interesting: one decision protects GKL's core casino business, while the other explores how the company can capture more value from the hundreds of thousands of international visitors already coming through its doors.
A KRW168.8 Billion Commitment to Gangnam
GKL will pay approximately KRW168.8 billion (US$120 million) over the new 10-year lease, which runs until 4 October 2035. Rent can be adjusted during the agreement based on movements in South Korea's Consumer Price Index, with the first adjustment scheduled for October 2026.
The deal provides valuable long-term certainty for Seven Luck's Gangnam operation.
Earlier in 2026, GKL had considered acquiring its own casino property in Seoul as a possible solution to high rental expenses, but abandoned that plan after deciding the proposal did not meet the requirements needed for a feasibility study.
The new lease effectively confirms that Gangnam COEX will remain an important part of GKL's strategy for the next decade.
From Casino Visitors to Wellness Tourists
At the same time, GKL is working with the Gangnam Medical Tour Center on a K-Medical Wellness Experience Zone at Seven Luck Casino Gangnam COEX, running through 31 August.
Foreign visitors can experience services including:
- Skin analysis and consultations
- K-beauty experiences
- Stress-index testing
- Massage and wellness experiences
- Products from Korean small and medium-sized businesses
The Gangnam Medical Tour Center itself provides international patients with services ranging from medical consultations and interpretation to airport pickup, making the partnership more than simply a promotional exhibition.
Why Medical Tourism Makes Sense
South Korea's medical-tourism market is growing rapidly.
More than 2 million overseas visitors travelled to South Korea for medical treatment in 2025, nearly double the 1.17 million recorded in 2024. Medical-tourism growth has been particularly strong around beauty, skincare and non-invasive treatments — areas closely associated with Seoul and Gangnam.
That creates a natural opportunity for GKL.
Seven Luck's customers are already international travellers, while Gangnam is one of Seoul's best-known districts for shopping, hospitality, beauty and medical services. Connecting casino visitors with these surrounding industries could increase overall visitor spending and make the casino part of a wider tourism ecosystem.
What GKL's CEO Said
GKL CEO Yoon Doo-hyun revealed that more than 360,000 foreign tourists visit the Gangnam COEX property each year.
He said the company hopes the initiative can provide customers with a more differentiated experience while identifying new opportunities for cooperation with the medical sector.
“We hope to elevate customer satisfaction by offering differentiated experiences.”
— Yoon Doo-hyun, CEO of Grand Korea Leisure
Insights
The 10-year lease is important, but the more interesting development may be what GKL is doing around the casino.
Unlike large integrated resorts that already contain hotels, retail, entertainment and extensive non-gaming attractions, a city casino such as Seven Luck Gangnam COEX needs to find other ways to expand the customer journey.
Partnering with medical, beauty, wellness and tourism businesses is one way to achieve this without building an entire integrated resort.
It also fits Korea's broader tourism strengths. The country's international appeal is increasingly being driven not only by K-pop and entertainment, but also by K-beauty, healthcare and wellness experiences.
For GKL, the opportunity could therefore be bigger than simply bringing people into a casino. The longer-term opportunity is to turn Seven Luck into a gateway connecting foreign visitors with the wider Gangnam tourism economy.
That could ultimately create opportunities across hospitality, tourism partnerships, multilingual customer service, marketing, healthcare tourism and premium visitor experiences — making diversification increasingly relevant to the skills GKL will need from its workforce.