[2025 National Audit] Illegal Gambling Counseling for Teens Surges 20-Fold in 5 Years... 86% of Cases This Year Involve Teenagers

Cho Kyewon: "Online Casino Cases Jump from 112 to 2,459"
Stronger Ad Blocking and Preventive Education Needed

It has been revealed that illegal online gambling addiction among teenagers has surged rapidly.

According to counseling statistics released on October 17 by Assemblyman Cho Kyewon of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, counseling cases related to teenage gambling-centered on illegal online casinos-have increased more than twentyfold over the past five years, based on data from the Korea Center on Gambling Problems Prevention and Healing.

The proportion of teenagers among all gambling addiction counseling cases rose from 8% in 2020 to 15% last year. During the same period, the number of counseling cases related to illegal online casinos soared from 112 to 2,459. As of August this year, 1,566 cases had already been reported, with teenage counseling accounting for 86% of the total.

This is the result of the spread of the so-called "casino in your hand," which is easily accessible via smartphones and social media. Experts point out that illegal online casino sites based on overseas servers operate rapidly and are equipped with payment bypass systems, making it virtually impossible to block teenage access unless pre-filtering is implemented at the advertising, search, and app distribution stages.

Assemblyman Cho stated, "Even the counseling statistics alone clearly indicate a warning sign," and emphasized, "There are limits to visible crackdowns alone, so proactive blocking of illegal gambling advertisements, victim counseling and treatment, and early prevention education must all be implemented together." He also stressed, "The Integrated Supervisory Commission for the Gambling Industry should work with the National Police Agency to establish a concrete system that blocks overseas servers, payment agencies, and hosting services together, and enhance the effectiveness of sanctions."