South Korea records 1,777 youth cyber gambling reports
A campaign connects young gamblers with treatment programmes and aims to help authorities identify illegal betting websites targeting minors.
South Korea.- The National Police Agency received 1,777 reports involving young people and cyber gambling during a reporting campaign conducted from May 18 through the end of August. The initiative brought together the Ministries of Education, Gender Equality and Family, the Integrated Supervisory Committee for Specified Businesses, the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service.
The aim was to encourage young people involved in online gambling to self report and receive support in exchange for leniency. Most reports were made directly by young people at 1,501 cases (84.5 per cent), while guardians submitted 276. High school students represented 963 cases (54.2 per cent), middle school students 813 (45.8 per cent) and one case involved an elementary school student.
Outreach by school resource officers (SROs) was the main reason cited for coming forward, accounting for 1,183 cases (66.6 per cent). Online and poster campaigns motivated another 243, while referrals from friends or acquaintances accounted for 180 cases and school guidance for 110.
Police and professional counsellors carried out initial interviews with 1,504 of the 1,777 respondents, with 1,430 subsequently referred to specialised treatment institutions. Of the 222 who completed treatment, 166 received leniency from Guidance Review Committees, including 147 released without charge and 19 referred for summary trials. The remaining 56 were charged and referred.
The campaign reportedly resulted in 464 illegal gambling website addresses being identified and submitted to the Korea Communications Standards Commission for blocking or removal. Investigators also found that illegal lenders were using X and Telegram to offer high-interest loans to young gamblers and threaten to expose their debts to relatives and friends.
