[2023 National Audit] Gambling Addiction Among Youth Increased Eightfold in 10 Years

Gambling Addiction Treatment Benefit Costs Increase 20-Fold
Gambling-Related Consultations Triple

Over the past decade, the number of adolescents treated for gambling addiction has increased nearly eightfold.

According to data received on the 10th from the National Police Agency by Lee Tae-gyu, a member of the National Assembly's Education Committee from the People Power Party, a total of 737 teenagers were arrested for gambling-related crimes over the past 10 years (2013?2022), with an increasing trend continuing since 2021.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service reported that the number of youths aged 19 and under treated for gambling addiction rose from 14 in 2013 to 114 in 2022, an increase of more than eight times.

Medical benefit costs related to this also surged nearly 20 times compared to 2013, from 6.8 million KRW to approximately 135 million KRW.

The number of adolescents seeking gambling-related counseling at the Korea Center on Gambling Problems Prevention and Healing, under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, also nearly tripled from 503 in 2017 to 1,460 in 2022.

Research has also revealed that illegal gambling is widespread among youths. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Center on Gambling Problems Prevention and Healing released in December last year, 5 out of 100 students currently enrolled in school (4.8%) and 13 out of 100 out-of-school youths (12.6%) were exposed to gambling problems.

Additionally, 26 out of 100 enrolled students (25.8%) and 30 out of 100 out-of-school youths (29.6%) reported having experienced real-money gambling games within the past three months.

Gambling is a representative hidden crime (a crime that occurs but is not officially recorded in crime statistics). Lee stated, "Official statistics likely represent only a very small portion of youths exposed to gambling."

He criticized, "Gambling not only poses its own problems but also carries significant risks as it can lead to secondary crimes such as school violence, loan sharking, prostitution mediation, drugs, and voice phishing, all linked to raising gambling funds. Experts identify preventive education as the top solution to youth gambling problems, but it is necessary to have educational public discourse and review whether the education authorities are fulfilling their responsibilities and duties in this regard."