Illegal sports betting booms in South Korea

Illegal sports betting in South Korea on horseracing, cycling, motorboat racing and online betting on other sports, is estimated to have reached some 17.5 trillion won in 2012, the Korea Times newspaper reported over the weekend, claiming the total amount of illegal gambling in the nation is now estimated at 75 trillion Won (1,698 Won = GBP 1).

The newspaper bases its numbers partially on a 2012 study by the Korean National Gambling Control Commission, and a separate 2013 study by the Korean Institute of Criminology, which estimated that illegal sports gambling worth at least 31 trillion Won took place in 2013 and was on an upward spiral, with total illegal gambling at 100 trillion Won a year.

Figures from the National Assembly’s Education, Culture, Sports and Tourism committee appear to back these estimates, revealing that the number of illegal sports gambling cases reported to Korean police has jumped to 46,527 in 2013 from 7,951 in 2011, indicating six-fold growth. The committee added that more than 30,000 cases were reported to police in the first half of 2015 alone.

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