No, Las Vegas Sands isn’t planning a North Korean casino

Reports that casino operator Las Vegas Sands wants to build a gaming venue in North Korea don’t have any basis in fact.

On Saturday, Mondoweiss reported on a speech given by Sands boss Sheldon Adelson at a June 27 meeting in Jerusalem of his Birthright Israel travel program for Jewish youth. During the speech, Adelson made the following comments on the recent dialogue between the US and North Korean governments:

“I wasn’t born here. I wasn’t raised here, I didn’t serve in the army here. I did serve in the United States army. I’m a veteran of the Korean war. Actually, I hope Trump gets North and South Korea to finish the war. I feel as though I might be called back up. I fight enough. I don’t want to go back to Korea to fight. I want to go back to Korea to open up my business.”

Numerous gaming media outlets have since claimed that Adelson was referencing Sands’ ambition to establish a North Korean casino. This appears to have been sparked by reports in June that North Korea was seeking US help to fund construction of a large-scale integrated resort in a new proposed international tourist zone.