Illegal online gambling spikes in South Korea
The National Gambling Control Commission (NGCC) estimates that 2.37 million adults in South Korea—about 5.5% of the population—meet the criteria for gambling addiction, the Korea Times reported last week. Illegal gambling revenue grew from KRW70tn in 2016 (£39bn/€46.7bn/$50.68bn) to KRW102tn in 2022.
As in other markets, the spike is attributed to Covid-19 shutdowns and the explosion of illegal igaming. Hospitality professor Seo Won-seok of Kyung Hee University told the JoongAng Daily late last year that Covid “shrank legitimate offline gambling businesses, but created a balloon effect” in unregulated options.
From 2018-22, the Korea Communications Standards Commissions shut down or blocked more than 40,000 online gambling websites.
High-profile case
The issue made headlines last week when popular comedian Lee Jin-ho owned up to a gambling problem.
In a 14 October Instagram post, Lee wrote that he stumbled on an illegal igaming site “by chance” in 2020. “As a result,” he confessed, “I ended up with an unbearable amount of debt.”
Local media say he borrowed KRW100m from superstar Jimin of the boy band BTS, and billions more from other entertainers and money lenders. Yet at times, he reportedly could not cover his rent.
Lee now claims he “was able to quit thanks to advice from my acquaintances and the realization that I might have to give up the career I love.”
Afflicting the young
Compulsive gambling among the young is also on the rise. So far this year, the number of minors in treatment for the disorder through one agency, the Korea Gambling Problem Prevention and Healing Center, exceeded 2,600, up 4.6 times over 2017.
A cyber-crime officer in Gyeonggi Bukbu Province contends that illegal online gambling operations “are actively recruiting the youth, seeing them as potential customers.”
In a survey of 18,400 students, fully 26% said they had gambled online in the previous 90 days.
Serious repercussions
South Koreans may legally gamble on lotteries and certain sports, including horse racing, boat racing and cycling. Casino gambling is also legal. But locals are limited to just one of 18 casinos in the country: Kangwon Land in remote Gangwon Province.
Gambling restrictions for South Koreans at home also apply abroad. And the government doesn’t take infractions lightly. First-time offenders face fines of up to KRW10m. Repeat offenders can be slapped with penalties of KRW20m and also spend up to three years in jail.
But legal wagering options are not nearly equal to the country’s appetite for gambling. At a tourism seminar in Seoul earlier this month, Park Jun-hwi, of the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice, said illegal gambling reaps about five times the revenues generated by legal wagers (the latter brings in about KRW20tn won per year).
The end for Lee?
Comedian Lee may hope to salvage his show-biz career, but the repercussions are already coming thick and fast.
Last week, producers of the hit Netflix series “Knowing Bros” announced, “Lee Jin-Ho will leave the program [effective immediately] … We will edit out as much of his previously filmed content as possible.”
He apparently is also out of the Netflix variety series “Comedy Revenge.” In a statement, Netflix said it was “deeply disappointed to learn about this just a day before the show’s premiere.” Finally, on 17 October, Lee lost his role as ambassador for his hometown of Hwaseong City.
He pleaded for understanding. “I’ve been diligently repaying my debts every month and plan to continue doing so until the day I die,” he wrote. “The financial loss is painful, but what hurts more is betraying those who lent me money. I will also cooperate fully with any police investigations and accept the consequences of my actions.”
South Korea ill-prepared for the fight
Despite the spike in online gambling, the NGCC is actually investing less on the problem.
Its budget to monitor online activity has dropped from KRW1.87bn in 2019 to KRW 1.43bn last year. The monitoring staff has also been trimmed, from 13 in 2023 to 12 this year.