While working as a reporter for New York Korea Daily in 2012, photographer Yeong-Ung Yang was invited to several media tours presented by the Asian marketing divisions of casinos in the Northeast.

“While it has been reported that casino operators have targeted Asian high rollers for years, creating pan-Asian restaurants and entertainment as part of the draw,” Yeong-Ung said in a recent email exchange, “the predatory practice of luring poor Chinese and Koreans into a cycle of desperation remains under-reported. Twice a day, Korean and Chinese immigrants living in Flushing, NY, ride casino buses as a way of life. The regulars are known as bus-kkun (Korean slang for bus riders)."

"Many do not gamble," he said. "They make the trip solely for the free gambling and meal vouchers they receive when they arrive, which they sell on the black market that exists in the casino. A half-day trip to the Sands can net around $40 and for many bus-kkun, this is their only source of income.

“Many bus-kkun choose to live through the endless cycle of bus rides and aimless days at the casino,” Yeong-Ung continued. “Others, such as Son Jung-Ho, have become addicted to gambling, so they ride the bus and rely on selling vouchers to restore depleted funds. Because of this, bus-kkun are looked down on and have been ignored by the Korean community in Flushing, which is generally known for having a philanthropic outlook.”

“I wrote articles in Korea Daily about how the bus-kkun’s downtrodden life style was affecting the otherwise stable Flushing community,” he said. “However, I failed to fully understand their daily struggle until I made contact with Chun Hae- Young, age 57, who introduced me to this under-reported situation.”

In early 2013 Yeong-Ung began making the overnight trip, armed with his camera, and wearing old clothes in order to blend in with the regulars. 

“The casino is a kind of place that can bleed you dry of everything,” said Mr. Chun. “It can also save your life when you have nothing.”

Yeong-Ung Yang  is currently photographing on assignment in South Korea until the end of the year and can be reached here [yeongimage@gmail.com]

Yeong-Ung was born in 1984 in Dae-gu, South Korea. He graduated from the Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Program at the International Center of Photography in New York City, where he received the Rita K. Hilman Award. He currently works as a freelance photo/video journalist and is a contributing reporter and translator for the New York Times.

In 2006, Yeong-Ung began his career in journalism when hired to work as a videographer for the Public Affairs Office of the Korean Army. During this 7-month period, Yang was stationed in Zaytun Division, located in Arbil, Iraq. Between 2010 and 2012, he worked as a writer and a photographer for the New York Korea Daily, and his work continues to focus on documenting the everyday lives of Korean Americans based in New York City. 

Yeong-Ung received a 2013 Emergency Fund Fellowship at the Magnum Foundation, which supported him to produce “Bus-kkun, ” which has been featured as a photo essay in The New York Times. The multimedia piece for this project won 'Best of Show' in the 2014 NPPA Northern Short Course Contest and 'Honorable Mention' in the 4th Lumix Festival for Young Photojournalists.