Online Casinos in South Korea

Online Casino Play Is Prohibited in South Korea

Gambling is itself an offence. Article 246 of the Criminal Act provides that "A person who commits the offense of gambling shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten million won: Provided, That gambling for a mere pastime shall be exonerated from the punishment." Habitual gambling is treated more severely — "A person who habitually commits the crime of paragraph (1) shall be punished by imprisonment with labor for not more than three years, or by a fine not exceeding 20 million won." — and the provision aimed at the operator is Article 247: "A person who, for gain, sets up a place or space for gambling shall be punished by imprisonment with labor for not more than five years, or by a fine not exceeding 30 million won." The words "a place or space" are what carry the offence beyond a physical room.

The Gambling Industries Korean Law Recognises

The National Gambling Control Commission sets out the statutory picture on its own site: "According to subsection (1) in the Article 2 in the National Gambling Control Commission Act, the gambling industry includes casinos, horse-racing, bicycle-racing, motorboat-racing, lottery, Sports Toto, and bullfight. (Article 2 in the 『National Gambling Control Commission Act』)" That list is the whole of the recognised sector, and online casino is not in it. The Commission also gives the statutory definition of a casino, taken from the Tourism Promotion Act: "A business type which either benefits or damages one’s property according to results of coincidences with dice, poker, slot machines, and others in a special premise (Article 3 in the 『Tourism Promotion Act』)". A Korean casino is a premises. Within that sector, the Commission notes that "Foreigner-only businesses that prohibit the entrance of Korean citizens are excluded from the yearly sales ceiling."

Internet Gambling Appears Only as Illegal Gambling

The Commission's surveillance work names the category directly: "Nine types of Illegal gambling reported are as follows: illegal casinos, illegal horse-, bicycle- & motorboat-racing, illegal Sports Toto, illegal lotteries, illegal bullfight, speculative game products, and illegal internet gambling." It describes the centre's work as follows: "Since November 2013, the Center has been carrying out its role, including the establishment and modification of policies regarding investigations of illegal gambling, the receiving of reports and website monitoring, an inquiry into the illegal gambling field, surveillance, and police investigation requests." The Commission itself "was set up under the National Gambling Control Commission Act (Regulation No. 8279) in 2007 to control, supervise, and regulate the gambling industry independently, with prevention policies as the first priority." It supervises the seven statutory sectors; it licenses no online casino, and neither does any other Korean body, which is why no casino regulator is recorded for South Korea.

A Foreign Licence Does Not Move the Offence

The Criminal Act's reach is set out at the front of the statute. Article 2 provides that "This Act shall apply to both Korean nationals and aliens who commit crimes in the territory of the Republic of Korea." and Article 3 that "This Act shall apply to all Korean nationals who commit crimes outside the territory of the Republic of Korea." Where an operator holds a licence is therefore beside the point for a person gambling in Korea, and Article 3 is the provision that reaches a Korean national gambling abroad — not Article 246, which sets the penalty. This site does not name offshore operators as a way to gamble in a market that prohibits them.

Sweepstakes Casinos Are Not a Korean Category

Korean law does use the word sweepstakes, but not in the sense the United States market uses it. The Commission lists among the "other types" of speculative-act business "A business operated by devices or methods able to arouse speculation with a purpose of profits such as a wheel of fortune, draw, and sweepstakes, which is determined by Presidential decree", under a statute it describes as defining that "A ‘speculative action’ means an act that benefits or damages on one’s property according to results from coincidental methods by collecting wealth or profits of property from the majority (Article 2, Section 1 in the 『Special Law on Regulation and Penalty of Speculative Actions])". That is a permission regime for prize draws, not a casino vertical. A sweepstakes casino is never a licensed alternative to a real-money casino. No Korean source read for this page addresses the United States dual-currency model by name, so this site records no sweepstakes status for South Korea at all rather than inferring one from that silence. Sweepstakes status is tracked as data, never asserted in prose.

What Is Available Instead

Seven statutory sectors, every one of them premises-based: casinos, horse racing, bicycle racing, motorboat racing, lottery, Sports Toto and bullfighting. That list is the whole of the recognised sector and online casino is not in it. A casino is defined as a business carried on in a special premise, and foreigner-only venues that prohibit the entrance of Korean citizens are a recognised category.

Support in South Korea

The Korea Problem Gambling Agency runs a free national helpline. Its own page states "헬프라인 : 국번없이 1336(무료) / 365일 연중무휴 09:00 ~ 22:00" — helpline 1336, dialled without an area code, free, every day of the year from 09:00 to 22:00 — and adds "전화상담은 365일, 09:00~22:00까지 이용 가능합니다." The service is described as "도박문제로 어려움을 겪고 있는 도박자 및 가족이 전문상담을 신속하게 받을 수 있도록 안내하는 서비스입니다.", a service for gamblers and their families, and the page states "신속한 상담을 위해 간단한 정보를 수집하고 있으며, 도박문제 상담내용은 비밀보장 됩니다." — counselling content is confidential. The agency's English site adds that "All the details of the use of service are confidential." The National Gambling Control Commission records that "This led to the founding of the Korea Problem Gambling Agency (KPGA) in August, 2013 in order for the commission to operate and efficiently manage the levy, and also promote relevant services."