Korean police launch illegal gambling investigation into local Polymarket users

Odaily Planet Daily News: South Korean police are investigating local users of the prediction market platform Polymarket on suspicion of illegal gambling. As Polymarket is classified as private gambling in South Korea, it is deemed illegal under current law.

According to police sources, the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency has recently been commissioned by the National Police Agency to investigate Polymarket's domestic users, marking the first such action targeting domestic users, covering nationwide areas including Gangwon-do. Under Article 246 of the Korean Criminal Code, gambling activities are illegal except for Sports Toto, which is operated by the National Sports Promotion Corporation with a maximum betting limit of 100,000 won. Involved users may face fines of up to 10 million won.

Lawyers representing some of the investigated users pointed out that while the cases meet the elements of illegal gambling, since there are no precedents of punishment for using Polymarket in the country, the severity of penalties remains difficult to estimate.

Currently, accessing Polymarket does not require using IP proxies, and the platform has not imposed restrictions even when domestic users place bets with USD stablecoins. The recent June 3 local elections have become a popular betting target, with gambling amounts reaching tens of billions of won. (Chosun)