A bill permitting online horse race betting cleared the National Assembly in March, and the resulting service will run as a pilot from December, according to a Hankyung Magazine report on the Korea Cup race day at LetsRun Park Seoul1. The report, published on September 24, states that the amount a single person can stake is likely to be capped at between KRW 50,000 and KRW 100,0001.
The same article describes the limits already in force at the track. A single person can bet a maximum of KRW 100,000 on one race game, and bets can be placed in units of KRW 1001.
The report says the mobile application used at the track is linked to GPS and only allows ticket purchases once the user has entered LetsRun Park Seoul1. The Korea Cup, run over 1,800 meters, was won by number 14 Crown Pride by 10 lengths, with number 15 Gloria Mundi second and the Korean horse Winners Man third; the field included runners from South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong1.
The article also sets out the operator's wider commercial position.
"지난 3월 국회 문턱을 넘은 '온라인 경마 베팅' 서비스가 12월부터 시범 운영된다. 금액 한도는 5만원에서 10만원으로 제한될 가능성이 높다."
What it means for players
For people who bet on horse racing in South Korea, the change would move part of the activity from the racecourse to a phone. Under the arrangement described, an online account would carry a stake limit per person in the KRW 50,000 to KRW 100,000 range, which is at or below the KRW 100,000 maximum already applied to a single bet on course1. The on-track app in use at LetsRun Park Seoul only works inside the venue, so the pilot would mark a departure from location-locked betting1.
The report does not say who would be eligible for an online account, how identity would be verified, whether the service would extend beyond the pilot period, or which races would be covered. Those details have not been reported. Existing rules on who may enter racecourses and bet, including the separate zones for younger adults and families, are unchanged by the bill as described1.
What happens next
The pilot is scheduled to begin in December1. The final betting limit has not been fixed, with KRW 50,000 to KRW 100,000 given as the likely range1. No further dates for expansion or review have been reported.
Sources1 sources
- 도박인 줄 알았는데…경마 2030 문화가 되다체험기 │ 한경매거진&북, magazine.hankyung.com
