Gambling Illegal In Korea
.Source: Korean Bitcoin Gambling Site Seeks Asian Customers. Online gambling websites accepting players from South Korea. Although, online gambling is illegal in South Korea and players can, theoretically, face penalties if caught, many foreign platforms accept registrations from the country. Gambling is illegal in South Korea, apart from in designated places such as casinos catering mostly to tourists. Gambling is also a violation of the code of conduct for monks of the Jogye order. Gambling (Casinos) Gambling in Korea is heavily regulated to the point where it is essentially illegal for Korean nationals on Korean soil. The only casino in Korea at which it is legal for Korean citizens to gamble is Gangwon Land. According to a report by The Khmer Times, 16 North Koreans have been busted for their role in an illegal gambling outfit that was targeting mainly Chinese gamblers. Gambling Expansion in South Korea. South Korea is one of the most economically successful countries in Asia. Unfortunately, government officials here have taken a mostly anti-gambling stance throughout the years. Most forms of gambling in the country were completely prohibited until the mid-1960s.
- Illegal Gambling Koreatown
- Is Casino Gambling Illegal In Korea
- Sports Gambling Illegal In Korea
- Gambling Illegal In South Korea
- Is Gambling Illegal In South Korea
South Korean gambling laws are quite restrictive in who may play, how often they may play and what types of games may be offered. The only forms of gambling available across the nation are the national lottery and the Sport Toto which is a type of sports betting lottery. There are 17 brick-and-mortar casinos in the country, but South Korean citizens are banned from all but one.
Online casinos are also prohibited by law but there are no laws against playing at one. Criminal groups are said to operate underground South Korean betting sites as well. However, there’s no need to play at any of those when you have access to legitimate and established gambling sites based out of countries where online gaming is legal and regulated.
Best Korean Betting Sites
Above is a list of Korean gambling websites that offer everything from sports betting to poker to traditional casino games such as baccarat, blackjack and slots. These sites are not located in Korea and are in no danger of being raided by the police and losing your money. Each one has an operating license from its home country.
Are There Risks Playing at Korean Gambling Sites?
There are no specific risks to be concerned with in the immediate future. The biggest risk that I see in playing at an offshore gambling site is South Korea gambling laws changing and prohibiting citizens from playing online. Right now, there are no laws against doing so.
The other potential risk is authorities deciding to reinterpret the Habitual Overseas Gambler law which prohibits citizens from playing at land-based casinos in other countries. The law in its current form does not apply to online gambling, but it’s easy to imagine someone in government deciding otherwise.
Deposits in Won
Asian bookmakers support South Korean won and offer their services in Korean. Those sites are great for certain types of sports betting but don’t offer quite as large a range of gambling options as European casino sites.
European headquartered betting websites offer a much wider range of sports betting options (including horse racing, cycling, motorsports, basketball, baseball and more) plus casino games and poker. The downside is you cannot deposit in KRW at any major European site. They prefer to use Euros, US dollars and Great British pounds.
If you decide to use a European site, you’ll need to set up an e-wallet account with a payment processor like Skrill, or Neteller. You can use that service to automatically convert your deposits into the accepted currency when you deposit and then convert them back into won when you withdraw.
Gambling Laws in South Korea
The gambling laws of South Korea are in some ways very prohibitive and in other ways quite relaxed. Land-based casinos are legal in the country, but all of them except one are restricted to foreigners only. The government is happy for companies to provide highly profitable gambling services to tourists but it does not want the social ills associated with gambling to ravage the local population.
The one exception to the land-based casino rule is the Kangwon Land Hotel and Casino. This is the only casino in all of South Korea that allows locals to play. It’s located in a remote mountainous area in order to dissuade too many people from going too often. The casino also prohibits any one person from visiting more than 15 days a month.
Korean law takes it a step further than most countries by also prohibiting citizens from playing at brick-and-mortar casinos in other countries. Anyone caught patronizing foreign casinos is subject to both financial and imprisonment penalties. It’s obviously a tough law to enforce, but there have been cases in the past in which heavy fines were levied on citizens found breaking the law.
As harsh as this law is, it does not appear to impact online gambling in South Korea. I have not been able to find any mention of the internet in this law and have so far been unable to find a single case of a Korean being prosecuted for betting online. Nonetheless, I recommend you seek the advice of a legal professional if you have any questions about Korean gambling law.
Illegal Gambling Koreatown
South Korea does permit certain forms of betting within the country. Horse racing, bicycling and boat racing can all be bet upon at designated locations. The government-run national lottery provides a lottery as well as limited forms of sports betting via Sports Toto and Proto.
Sports Toto is a type of parimutuel wagering in which citizens can place wagers on the outcomes of soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball and golf matches. All bets placed on Sports Toto events are pooled together, the government keeps a portion of the pool and then divides the remainder equally among the winners.
Proto offers a type of fixed-odds betting similar to what you would find at any European or American sportsbook. Proto calculates the payout odds ahead of time and gives you the ability to place wagers on basketball and baseball only. The downside to using Proto is that it offers significantly lower payout odds than what you can find at offshore sports betting sites.
You can read more about both forms of betting here.
Overall, we could say that the existing gaming laws in Korea are strict but they don’t cover everything. The rise of online betting poses an interesting question. Will South Korea attempt to crack down on offshore gaming sites or will it see the futility in prohibition and take the regulation approach? Only time will tell.
Is Casino Gambling Illegal In Korea
According to reports on October 23, S.E.S member/singer Shoo is facing a criminal lawsuit for money concealment while currently on probation for her illegal habitual gambling sentence.
Previously, Shoo was charged with committing illegal, habitual gambling overseas from 2016 through 2017 worth approximately 790 million KRW (~ $700,000 USD). She was found guilty and sentenced to a probationary period of 2 years, where if she commits additional crimes, she could face a year and 6 months in prison.
Sports Gambling Illegal In Korea
Now, it's been revealed that an acquaintance of Shoo, 'A', has filed a lawsuit against Shoo, claiming that Shoo concealed money from them. 'A' is an acquaintance who is still involved in another lawsuit with Shoo, after lending Shoo 350 million KRW (~ $300,000 USD) for gambling, which Shoo failed to pay back. In this ongoing lawsuit, Shoo claimed that she did not have the 350 million KRW to return to 'A', and also argued that 'A' originally loaned her the money to be used for gambling.
Gambling Illegal In South Korea
'A's latest lawsuit against Shoo claims that Shoo attempted to sell her Gyeonggi-do residence to 'A'. The two parties completed a sales contract in March of 2019; however, Shoo currently still resides at the residence. 'A' claims that Shoo tricked them with a false sales contract, therefore withholding money which Shoo is allegedly required to pay back for previous loan.
Is Gambling Illegal In South Korea
Shoo's side has yet to release a statement regarding the lawsuit.