South Korean opposition lawmaker Lee Kae-ho told a National Assembly audit on October 24, 2023 that the blocking rate for illegal sports toto sites fell from 67.6 percent to 28.3 percent between 2018 and September of this year1. The audit covered the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee and the National Sports Promotion Foundation, among others1.
Lee, a member of the Democratic Party sitting on the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, said registrations of illegal sports toto sites had surged to 51,699 cases, the highest in the past five years, while the blocking rate stood at 45.9 percent, down 21.7 percent compared with 20181. The report gives both the 28.3 percent figure for the 2018 to September 2023 span and the 45.9 percent figure for the five year comparison, without reconciling the two1.
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Blocking rate, 2018 | 67.6 percent |
| Blocking rate, to September 2023 | 28.3 percent |
| Blocking rate cited in five year comparison | 45.9 percent |
| Change versus 2018 in that comparison | down 21.7 percent |
| Illegal sports toto site registrations | 51,699 cases, a five year high |
Lee attributed the decline to a slow reporting and handling process. He said the current system requires illegal sports toto reports to pass through multiple stages of review, from confirmation of receipt at a reporting center to the payment of a reward, and that this multi agency process takes about three months1.
"불법 스포츠토토와의 전쟁에서 지금의 접근 방식은 더 이상 효과적이지 않다"
He added that solving the problem requires close cooperation with the relevant agencies and an integrated response strategy1.
What it means for players
The figures describe how quickly South Korean authorities remove illegal sports toto sites from reach, not how many such sites exist. A falling blocking rate alongside rising registrations means a growing share of reported sites stayed accessible during the period covered. For anyone in South Korea using an unlicensed sports betting site, that gap is the practical risk: the site may keep operating after it has been reported, and the roughly three month handling cycle described at the audit means a report does not translate into a quick block1. South Korea's licensed sports betting runs through the official sports toto system; offshore and mirror sites sit outside it. The audit did not report which sites were involved, how many remained reachable at the time of the hearing, or any change to the penalties players face.
What happens next
No specific follow up measures, timelines or legislative steps were reported. Lee called for closer cooperation between the relevant agencies and an integrated response strategy, but the audit produced no dated commitments1.
Sources1 sources
- 불법 스포츠토토 사이트 차단율, 5년 사이 40％포인트 급감 | 연합뉴스, yna.co.kr
