Authorities in South Korea have arrested some 5,196 people over the course of a year-long cyber gambling crackdown, with most suspects being in the 20s and 30s.
According to ChosunBiz, the National Office of Investigation (NOI) of the Korean National Police Agency conducted the crackdown from November of 2024 to October of this year.
During the crackdown some 314 individuals were further detained and authorities recovered some KRW123.5 billion ($83.6 million) in gambling revenue.
According to the NOI, gamblers in their 20s made up about one-quarter of the total, together with punters in their 30s – the two age groups made up over 50 percent of those arrested.
Authorities indicate that they intend to extend the crackdown on cybercrime through October of 2026.
This includes organizations running illegal sites based overseas. According to the Korean National Police Agency, some 97 individuals were caught, including those operating gambling sites worth KRW530 billion ($358.8 million), based in Cambodia, China, the Philippines and Vietnam. They also caught 23 members of an organization operating a gambling site based on servers in the Philippines.
