South Korea's Supreme Court on July 14, 2022 quashed a lower court conviction for gambling and sent the case back to the Incheon District Court, ruling that betting on ladder games and odd-even games does not fall under the prohibited conduct defined in Article 26(1) of the National Sports Promotion Act1.
The case concerned a defendant accused of using his mobile phone to bet on "odd-even games" and similar games offered on an illegal sports betting site, receiving payouts when his predictions were correct. According to the charge sheet, he transferred a total of 1,044,880,000 won across 845 separate transactions and then gambled1. The lower court, the Incheon District Court, had convicted him in case 2021No1822, a judgment dated 20211.
The Supreme Court drew a distinction between sports betting and the games at issue. It held that conduct counts as a prohibited "similar act" under Article 26(1) only where a person issues something like a sports promotion betting ticket and pays money or property gains to whoever correctly predicts the outcome1. Where the thing used for gambling is not such a "similar act," a person cannot be considered to have gambled "using a prohibited act under Article 26(1)" as punished by Article 48(3)1.
"이 사건 사다리 게임 및 홀·짝 게임의 결과를 적중시킨 자에게 재물 등을 제공하는 행위는 ... 국민체육진흥법 제26조 제1항 의 '유사행위'에 해당하지 않으므로"
The court noted the defendant had consistently argued he did not bet on the results of sports events. In the lower courts he said: "피고인은 스포츠경기 결과에 배팅하여 결과를 맞추는 스포츠 도박을 한 것이 아니라 홀수·짝수의 단순한 결과에 배팅하는 사다리 게임 등을 하였다."1 The Supreme Court found the lower court had misunderstood the legal meaning of "similar act" and the facts, and had failed to conduct the necessary examination1.
What it means for players
The ruling narrows what counts as the specific offense of gambling using a prohibited act under the National Sports Promotion Act. Betting on ladder games and odd-even games, where the outcome is a simple odd or even result rather than a sports event, was held not to be the "similar act" the law prohibits1. This affects how such conduct can be charged under Article 48(3)1. The decision does not address whether other laws or charges could apply to the same conduct, and it does not make these games legal in general. The case was sent back to the Incheon District Court for a new hearing, so the defendant's guilt on the original charge has not been finally decided1. For a wider view of how Asian jurisdictions treat games of chance, see Games of Skill vs Games of Chance in Asian Gambling Law and What Counts as Gambling Under Asian Law?.
What happens next
The Supreme Court remanded the case to the Incheon District Court for retrial1. No date for the new proceedings has been reported.
Sources1 sources
- 판례 > 국민체육진흥법위반(도박등) | 국가법령정보센터, law.go.kr
