Between January and July of this year, South Korean police apprehended 267 teenagers for involvement in cyber gambling, already surpassing the 266 minors caught during the entirety of the previous year, according to data released on August 27 by Representative Kim Jun-hyuk of the Democratic Party from the National Assembly’s Education Committee.
Regional Breakdown and Yearly Trends of Minor Cyber Gambling
The figures obtained from the Korean National Police Agency trace a volatile trajectory for juvenile cyber gambling offenses between 2021 and July 2026. Police caught 116 teenage suspects in 2021, a number that dropped to 87 in 2022 before surging to 170 in 2023. The total spiked dramatically to 749 in 2024 before receding to 266 last year. However, the 267 arrests recorded in just the first seven months of this year indicate a renewed upward surge.
Geographically, Gyeonggi Southern Province led all jurisdictions with 50 teenage apprehensions through July. Busan followed with 36 suspects, while Seoul recorded 33.
Online Casinos and Minigames Dominate Youth Gambling Habits
Data from the Korea Center on Gambling Problems Prevention and Healing’s 2025 Youth Gambling Survey highlights which digital platforms capture minors’ attention. Among teenagers who engaged in continuous gambling over a six-month period, online casino games emerged as the most frequent format at 35.8%.
Online minigames accounted for 29.8% of reported experiences, followed by online hwatu at 17.2%. Online sports betting on game outcomes and online lotteries registered at 16.0% and 10.2%, respectively.
Critique of School Prevention Programs and Call for Content Reform
Schools currently conduct mandatory gambling prevention training under existing legal frameworks. Data from 2024 shows that seven regional educational jurisdictions—Busan, Daejeon, Sejong, Gangwon, Chungnam, Jeonnam, and Gyeongbuk—achieved a 100% school implementation rate. In Busan, all 617 local schools ran prevention sessions during the first semester of last year. Despite this saturation, Busan still recorded the second-highest tally of teenage cyber gambling suspects at 36 during the first seven months of this year.
This persistence of juvenile offenses despite widespread instruction has fueled criticism that education authorities focus too heavily on basic compliance rather than practical impact. Representative Kim Jun-hyuk argued that the core issue is not whether schools hold prevention classes, but what specific content they deliver. He emphasized that instruction must explicitly warn students that accessory actions—such as lending bank accounts or promoting gambling sites—constitute direct participation in punishable secondary crimes, even if the student does not place bets directly. He added that educational offices must establish active oversight systems to evaluate the real-world effectiveness of these programs rather than merely checking off administrative completion rates.
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