South Korea Finds Huge Underage Involvement in Online Gambling

A lot of Minors Arrested

From September 2023 to October 2024, South Korean police arrested nearly 10,000 people in a nationwide crackdown on online gambling. 4,715 of them were under 19.

This was part of a bigger operation by the National Investigation Headquarters to tackle cybercrime across the country. 297 gambling operators were arrested and KRW126 billion ($90.4 million) in illegal profits were seized. The high number of minors prompted a switch in focus to youth involvement.

The breakdown of the minors arrested shows 17 year olds were the biggest group with 1,763. 16 year olds were 1,241 and 15 year olds were 560. Worst of all, 9 year olds were found to be involved.

Online casino games were the most popular among the youth, 82.6% of the cases. During the crackdown, minors bet KRW3.7 billion ($2.64 million), with the average bet per person KRW780,000 ($560). A 16 year old boy bet up to KRW190 million ($136,000) on baccarat.

Reasons for Youth Gambling

The data shows 99% of the minors were casual gamblers. But a few were more deeply involved: 16 assisted in operating gambling sites, 13 developed and managed these sites and a few provided gambling products and advertising.

Curiosity was the top reason for 43% of the minors. Peer pressure was 34%. Exposure to online and offline ads was also a factor in the minors’ decision to gamble.

Knowing the long term psychological effects, 1,733 minors (37% of those arrested) were referred to professional counseling. This is to help them rehabilitate and prevent future involvement in illegal gambling.

Given the results, the National Police Agency will extend the crackdown for another year. They will focus on youth gambling and set up a total support system to protect minors from this.