Senior Superintendent Shim Bo-young, head of the Korean National Police Agency's youth protection division:

"Some encounter gambling as early as fifth or sixth grade of elementary school"

Not related to the article. [123rf]
Not related to the article. [123rf]

A teenager who squandered 200 million won ($149,000) on cyber gambling was caught by police after assaulting his mother when she refused to give him more allowance money.

Senior Superintendent Shim Bo-young, head of the youth protection division at the Korean National Police Agency, said on Wednesday on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" that an estimated 157,000 young people, or about 4 percent of all teenagers, have experienced gambling, citing a study by the Korea Center on Gambling Problems.

"There are cases in which teens turn to crimes such as theft, fraud and extortion to raise gambling funds, and we judged that education alone was not enough, so we introduced a voluntary self-reporting system," Shim said. "As a result, 1,777 teens have come forward on their own."

She then said police cracked down on more than 7,000 teenagers for gambling last year, so the 1,777 self-reporters represent only a small fraction of that figure. Most of those who self-reported were middle and high school students, though one was an elementary school student, she added.

"According to our research, the average age at which teens first experience gambling has been falling — from 12.9 in 2024 to 12.5 in 2025," Shim said. "We believe some are exposed to gambling as early as the fifth or sixth grade of elementary school."

Asked about the average amount teenagers spend on gambling, Shim said the figures "range from as little as 2,000 won to as much as 200 million won, with the average coming to around 3 million won."

However, she clarified that the 3 million won figure represents "the cumulative amount deposited into gambling sites," explaining that teens often withdraw winnings and redeposit them repeatedly, so the cumulative deposit total differs from the actual amount of money spent gambling.

Regarding the case of the teenager who spent 200 million won on gambling, Shim said police learned of the situation after the boy's mother called the emergency line, 112. She said the mother reported that "her son was demanding allowance money and assaulting her." After interviewing the student, police found he had assaulted his parent because he needed money to gamble. They then connected him with a treatment center and psychiatric care to help him recover.

"We have requested that the Korea Communications Standards Commission block cyber gambling sites and have shut down 464 of them so far, but operators keep finding new ways around the blocks," Shim said. "Alongside fundamental site-blocking efforts at the government level, we are also focusing on guidance-oriented approaches, with school resource officers and specialized institutions providing follow-up management to prevent relapse into gambling."


jshan@heraldcorp.com