A costly roll of the dice

An entrance area to the casino at the Inspire Entertainment Resort, in Incheon, South Korea. The Mohegan Native American tribe spent US$1.6bil and almost a decade building a gambling venue near Seoul with three five-star hotels, a 15,000-seat arena and a water park but less than a year later, a missed performance target caused Mohegan to lose control of the project. — Photos: Jun Michael Park/The New York Times

THE Mohegan Native American tribe spent US$1.6bil and almost a decade building a gambling resort near Seoul with three five-star hotels, a 15,000-seat arena and a water park so lavish that Netflix chose it as the setting for a hit dating show.

Inspire Entertainment Resort was Mohegan’s first casino project outside North America, designed to tap a lucrative market of Chinese gamblers, who spent US$28bil on games in Macau in 2024.