The National Office of Investigation (NOI) of the Korean National Police Agency said on the 24th that it arrested 5,196 people in a special crackdown on cyber gambling crimes conducted from Nov. last year to Oct. this year. Of them, 314 were detained, and 123.5 billion won in gambling revenue was recovered.
By age group, those in their 20s numbered 1,514 (25.3% of the total) and those in their 30s numbered 1,489 (24.9%), the largest shares. The two groups accounted for 50.2% of suspects. They were followed by ▲ those in their 40s, 1,366 (22.8%) ▲ those in their 50s, 800 (13.4%) ▲ teens, 417 (7.0%) ▲ those 60 and older, 306 (1.7%).
By type of illegal cyber gambling, sports toto had many in their 20s and 30s, while game-based casinos were evenly distributed across those in their 20s to 40s. Horse racing, cycling, and motorboat racing were mainly people in their 40s and older.
Gambling among youths was also serious. Many were not booked and thus not counted in the enforcement statistics, but the Korean National Police Agency caught 7,153 youth gambling offenders over the past year. In minor cases, they are referred to a police station guidance review committee, and depending on the seriousness of the offense, it may lead to a warning and release, a request for summary judgment, or referral.
The Korean National Police Agency plans to extend the special crackdown on cybercrime through Oct. 2026 and focus on arresting organizations running illegal sites based overseas. This year as well, 97 people, including operators of gambling sites worth 530 billion won based in offices in four countries—Cambodia, China, the Philippines, and Vietnam (South Chungcheong Provincial Police Agency)—and 23 members of an organization operating a gambling site based on overseas servers in the Philippines (Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency), were caught.
Park Woo-hyeon, cyber investigation deliberation officer at the Korean National Police Agency, said, "The damage is spreading even to youths," and added, "As it evolves into organized, transnational crime, we will do our best to eradicate it."