Attempts at a South Korea casino license for Caesars Entertainment and Lippo Limited have been rejected. It was a surprise move that could stall the government’s casino development plans. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism told Reuters on Friday that both requests for licences were rejected. A ministry spokeswoman give no reason for the decision.

A South Korea casino was just one of many Asian countries considering building resorts to lure in high-spending tourists. This after Singapore’s success with two large properties that opened in 2010. Taiwan plans to allow casinos to set up shop on offshore islands and the Philippines is developing four large casino resorts.

The Caesars-Lippo consortium and Universal had applied to build large integrated resorts in Incheon, an economic zone that the government hopes will attract tourism and investment. Caesars and Lippo announced in January that they were seeking government approval. The Caesars-Lippo consortium declined to comment on the reason its application was rejected but said it was “surprised and disappointed” and believed it had met the specific requirements.

A local government official with knowledge of the matter said the South Korea casino decision reflected concerns about Caesars‘ credit rating. The official declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. Moody’s Investors Service lowered its ratings on the company and assigned a negative outlook in April, citing adverse gaming revenue trends. Universal, controlled by billionaire founder Kazuo Okada, was not immediately available for comment.