South Korean officials have announced its National Police Agency will be ramping up efforts to stop illegal online gambling in the country, starting with the gambling operators but also warning average players.
South Korean officials feel that online gambling sites re almost exclusively controlled and managed by organized crime. The country is planning to increase its penalties for running an illegal site, which are now at up to seven years in prison or a 70 million won ($61,500) fine.
Operating an illegal gambling network will now be classified as participating in a criminal group enterprise, an arrangement that is subject to a life sentence in prison, according to a report in casino.org.
Citizens of South Korea are largely prohibited from partaking in any sort of gambling activity.
Officials have also warned that gamblers themselves will be targeted.
“Although we have prosecuted only habitual gamblers and gamblers betting a large amount of money in the past, we will charge all gamblers without exceptions, regardless of how often they gamble or how much money they bet,” the NPA said in a press statement.
The NPA will focus on gamblers observed to have gambled at least three times. They will now face financial punishments and the possibility of prison. Computer programmers and web hosting companies who knowingly comply with the criminal organizations will also be prosecuted, NPA officials said, according to the report.
Korean officials said a special illegal online gambling task force will be created to monitor the market and strengthen the police’s ability to regulate and indict criminals and players, the report said.
