Reports of illegal online gambling have tripled over the past four years.
‘Gambling addiction treatment service’ doubled for teenagers
Lee Jin-ho / Photo = Choi Hyuk, Hankyung.com reporter “/>
Lee Jin-ho / Photo = Choi Hyuk, Hankyung.com Reporter Recently, comedian Lee Jin-ho confessed to illegal online gambling, making it a hot topic day after day, and reports of illegal online gambling were found to have nearly tripled over the past four years.
According to data submitted by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Min Hyeong-bae’s gambling industry integration supervisory committee on the 16th, there were a total of 39,082 reports of illegal online gambling last year. This is an increase of approximately 2.99 times from 13,064 cases in 2019.
Monitoring activities for the illegal gambling industry also increased 2.91 times from 16,662 to 48,648 during the same period. In particular, last year, reports of illegal online gambling were found to account for 80.3% of all surveillance activities.
As of August this year, there were 32,309 reports of illegal gambling industry, followed by illegal sports gambling (11,962 cases), illegal casinos (10,733 cases), and illegal online gambling (9,507 cases).
/Photo = Getty Image Bank Among them, the number of teenagers receiving treatment for gambling addiction has also increased rapidly, raising social concerns.
According to data received by Representative Min’s office from the Gambling Industry Integration Supervision Commission, the number of teenagers using the ‘gambling addiction treatment service’ increased from 1,242 in 2021 to 2,349 in 2024.
Representative Min said that the statistics are a count of service users until July 2024, so if this trend continues, the actual number of addicts is expected to be higher.
Looking at the types of gambling of youth who received treatment services this year, 1,319 people played illegal online casinos, 211 people played private sports Toto, 140 people played illegal real-time games, and 679 people played other games.
What is noteworthy is that the number of teenage online casino addicts has increased significantly. The number of teenage online casino addicts in 2021 was 200, but in July 2024, it increased more than six times to 1,319.
This shows a significant difference from other types of gambling that show a decline or maintenance trend, and is identified as the main cause of the increase in the number of teenage addicts.
Photo = Yonhap News Representative Min said, “The scale of illegal gambling has exceeded 100 trillion won, and illegal smartphone and online gambling is rapidly spreading not only to celebrities but also to teenagers.” He added, “Relevant authorities are actively taking action by increasing surveillance personnel and increasing budgets.” “We have to respond,” he said.
He also said, “We are in a situation where we need to present a different solution to the changing types of gambling addiction among teenagers,” and emphasized, “The Gambling Industry Integrated Supervision Committee must not only actively crack down on the spread of illegal online gambling, but also prepare new countermeasures.” did it
Meanwhile, Seoul’s Gangnam Police Station announced on the 15th that it had begun a pre-booking investigation (internal investigation) into Jin-ho Lee, who was embroiled in controversy over illegal online gambling. On the 14th, Lee Jin-ho confessed to illegal gambling through his SNS, saying, “In 2020, by chance, I started playing games on an illegal Internet gambling site, and I ended up taking on a debt that was difficult to bear.”
The complainant who requested the police to investigate said, “Lee Jin-ho is a well-known celebrity, and his every action has a huge impact on society.” He said, “We need to stop Jin-ho Lee’s habitual gambling and prevent criminals from running rampant in the world of pop culture and arts.” “Please thoroughly investigate the fraud allegations,” he requested.
Hong Min-seong, Hankyung.com reporter [email protected]
