Police are currently investigating domestic users of Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market platform, on suspicion of illegal gambling. Polymarket is legal in the United States but is classified as illegal in Korea as private gambling.
According to police on the 5th, the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency recently accepted a request from the Korean National Police Agency and is currently investigating domestic Polymarket users on gambling charges. It is known to be the first investigation targeting domestic Polymarket users. The investigation target includes users living nationwide, including Gangwon Province.
Under current law, placing stakes on betting sites other than Sports Toto, operated by the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation (KSPO) (betting limit 100,000 won), is all illegal. Therefore, domestic Polymarket users may be subject to a fine of up to 10 million won under Article 246 of the Criminal Act (gambling, habitual gambling).
Attorney An Chang-bo, head lawyer at Respect Law Office, who serves as legal representative for some domestic Polymarket users under investigation, said, "It appears the elements of the gambling offense are met. However, because there have been no cases of punishment for Polymarket use in Korea at all, it is difficult to predict the level of punishment."
Access to Polymarket is currently possible without methods such as IP bypassing. The Korea Communications Standards Commission has said, "We have not conducted a review because no reports related to Polymarket have been filed."
Even when Koreans use dollar stablecoins to bet on Polymarket, Polymarket is not imposing separate restrictions. Because of this, the June 3 local elections were listed as a Polymarket betting subject, and bets totaling hundreds of billions of won were placed.