South Korea's government launched a pan-government response team on November 3, 2023 to tackle illegal online gambling and protect young people, holding its first meeting at the Government Complex Gwacheon that day1. Under the plan, the National Police Agency will run a special crackdown until March 31, 2024 on online gambling sites and advertising channels that lure young people, and on youth gambling itself1.
The team includes the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the Korea Communications Commission, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the National Police Agency and the National Gambling Control Commission1. The government said the move follows an instruction from President Yoon Suk Yeol on the 10th of last month for an all-of-government response covering investigation and enforcement, blocking illegal sites, and counseling and treatment1.
The team set five areas of cooperation: strong investigation and enforcement against organizations running illegal gambling sites aimed at young people; rapid blocking of gambling sites and advertising; prevention education tailored to the characteristics of adolescence; treatment and rehabilitation for young people exposed to gambling; and in-depth research to establish the scale of the problem1. It said it will review results and improvements periodically1.
The Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said they will actively apply additional charges to the organizations running online gambling sites, including forming and operating a criminal organization and tax evasion1. The Korea Communications Commission said it will work with the Korea Communications Standards Commission to review illegal sites and gambling advertising quickly and to request or order deletion and blocking on portals and social media1. The government also plans to push for designating youth-harmful businesses such as holdem pubs1.
"온라인 불법 도박은 청소년의 미래를 파괴하는 중대한 범죄"
The government cited figures on the scale of the problem. The National Gambling Control Commission's survey of illegal gambling put estimated illegal gambling revenue at 102 trillion 700 billion won last year, up about 26 percent from 81 trillion 500 billion won in 20191. The government said youth illegal gambling is linked to secondary crimes such as drug delivery and voice phishing to raise gambling money, and that there have been cases of young people taking their own lives over gambling debts1.
What it means for players
The crackdown period runs to March 31, 2024 and covers sites and advertising that target young people, plus youth gambling, so enforcement attention is concentrated on operators and promoters rather than on adult casual players1. Prosecutors intend to pursue organized-crime and tax-evasion charges against site operators, which raises the stakes for anyone running or staffing such operations1.
Blocking is the part most likely to be felt day to day. The communications regulator said it will review illegal sites and gambling ads faster and demand removal or blocking on portals and social media, which can mean sites become unreachable and ads disappear from feeds1. How blocking works in practice, including mirror sites and app removals, is set out in Why Betting Sites Get Blocked in Asia: DNS Blocks, Mirror Sites and App Removals. The legal position for players across the region is covered in Online Gambling in Asia: The Law for Players in 12 Jurisdictions.
Warning signs and how to talk about them are covered in Young People and Gambling: Risks, Warning Signs and Talking to Your Children, and support options are listed in Safer Gambling in Asia: Warning Signs, Self-Exclusion, Help Lines and Support in 12 Jurisdictions.
The plan also targets youth-harmful business designations for venues such as holdem pubs, which would affect where young people can legally be admitted1. No list of specific venues or named sites has been reported1.
What happens next
The police crackdown runs until March 31, 20241. The response team said it will check results and improvement measures periodically, but no dates for those reviews have been reported1.
Sources1 sources
- 정부 "청소년 유혹 온라인 도박 엄단"…내년 3월까지 특별단속 | 연합뉴스, yna.co.kr
