South Korea Records 1,777 Youth Cyber Gambling Self-Reports in Nationwide Campaign

More than 1,700 young people reported their involvement in online gambling during a special South Korean government campaign, highlighting growing concerns over casino-style games, gambling debt and related crime among teenagers.

South Korean authorities received 1,777 reports of youth cyber gambling during a nationwide self-reporting programme that ran from May 18 to August 31, according to the Korean National Police Agency. The initiative was organised jointly by police, education, youth protection, gambling supervision and financial authorities.

The average age of those involved was 15.5 years, with reported participants ranging from 12 to 18. High-school students accounted for 963 cases and middle-school students for 813, while one elementary-school student was also reported. In 84.5% of cases, the young people contacted authorities themselves rather than being reported by their parents or guardians.

The scale of gambling activity was also significant. Police said the teenagers had gambled for an average of around 10 months, with an average total gambling amount of approximately KRW 3 million. Casino-style games such as online slots and baccarat represented 95.9% of the reported activity. In one particularly serious case, authorities identified a teenager who had gambled around KRW 200 million over two years.

The programme was designed to encourage treatment rather than rely solely on punishment. Of 1,504 young people who had completed initial interviews, 1,430 — more than 95% — were referred to specialist gambling treatment or youth counselling services. Among 222 participants who completed treatment and whose cases had been processed, 166 received relatively lenient measures, while 56 were formally booked or referred for prosecution.

Authorities are also using the reports to target the illegal gambling market itself. Information collected during interviews led police to request the closure or removal of 464 illegal gambling websites. Five teenagers who had used illegal lending services to finance gambling were referred for financial support, while police are investigating high-interest lending and threats connected with debt collection.

South Korea introduced the self-reporting system after authorities recorded a sharp increase in youth gambling cases and growing evidence that gambling debt could lead teenagers into fraud, theft or illegal borrowing. The government offered participants the possibility of more lenient treatment based on factors such as gambling amounts and completion of rehabilitation programmes, while providing counselling and financial assistance.

Police now plan to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme before deciding whether and how it should continue. The first results suggest that youth online gambling in South Korea is no longer viewed only as an enforcement issue: authorities are increasingly treating early identification, rehabilitation and the disruption of illegal gambling websites as equally important parts of the response.