Authorities in South Korea are set to embark on frantic action in the coming months after unearthing a network in excess of 2000 suspects with alleged links to illegal gambling.
According to The Korea Herald, an eight-month investigation led to the identification of 2,319 individuals by the police in Korea.
154 arrests have been made so far across 1,746 cases. Meanwhile, 107.2bn won (£52.2m) has been seized from suspected criminal networks.
The National Office of Investigation under the National Police Agency said that the majority of sites identified were using the same technology, and focus has now turned to interrupting the suppliers of the platforms.
The largest of the websites identified in the crackdown was based in Vietnam and had generated a turnover of 1.3trn won (£633m) before being shut down by police in the Gyeongnam province.
Police said that it worked with foreign law enforcement to apprehend 75 suspects who had fled Korea, with 15 now returned to the country.
Regulated online gambling in South Korea is restricted to the government-owned Sports Toto sportsbook. However, South Korean citizens are targeted by overseas operators and the black market dwarfs its regulated counterpart.
The Illegal gambling market is estimated to be worth 49trn won (£23.9bn), according to the National Gambling Control Commission of Korea, compared to just 6.9trn won (£3.36bn) for the regulated sector.
In September 2025, South Korean authorities made ten arrests related to an illegal gambling ring based in Cambodia, which was believed to have processed transactions totalling 44bn won (£23.4bn) between February 2022 and July 2023.
Targeting overseas activity
South Korean’s are also banned from engaging in gambling activity when they are abroad. However, concerns have been raised that citizens are travelling to destinations such as Macau and the Philippines to take part in gambling.
Experts in the country have called on the authorities to establish a task force to combat this activity.
Speaking at a forum held by The Korea Times and the Tourism Sciences Society of Korea, Lee Jae-seok, a professor at Gangneung-Wonju National University, said: “While Macau and the Philippines remain key destinations for those who engage in overseas gambling, the market is expanding to neighbouring countries such as Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam and also quickly evolving online.
“That’s why we need a permanent regulatory body to comprehensively monitor international gambling activities in the whole ASEAN market.”
