18th Anti-Gambling Addiction Day ceremony held in Seoul
Speculative Industries Supervisory Commission, Defense Ministry, FSC, Financial Supervisory Service and Korea Center on Gambling Problems join forces on military gambling issues
The Speculative Industries Supervisory Commission held the 18th Anti-Gambling Addiction Day ceremony at the National Library of Korea's international conference hall in Seoul on Thursday, announcing a new cooperative framework with partner agencies to prevent and treat gambling problems among military personnel.
The commission designates Sept. 17 — its founding anniversary — as Anti-Gambling Addiction Day and holds an annual ceremony to raise public awareness and strengthen social cooperation on prevention and recovery. This year's event focused on linking the functions of relevant agencies in response to growing access to illegal gambling through smartphones and online platforms, covering everything from preventive education for troops to early detection, counseling, treatment, and financial and debt support.
Five agencies — the Speculative Industries Supervisory Commission, the Ministry of National Defense, the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service and the Korea Center on Gambling Problems — signed an MOU on supporting the prevention, treatment and recovery of gambling problems among military personnel. Under the agreement, the commission will oversee policy coordination and support-system linkages among the agencies, while the Defense Ministry will cooperate on preventive education and awareness campaigns for troops and on early detection of gambling problems within the military. The FSC and the Financial Supervisory Service will strengthen counseling on gambling-related financial and debt issues and expand one-stop referrals for victims of illegal private lending, while the Korea Center on Gambling Problems will provide professional counseling and treatment and recovery services.
The five agencies plan to work through follow-up consultations to flesh out specific measures, including preventive education and awareness campaigns targeting troops, early detection and referral to professional counseling, treatment and aftercare support, financial and debt counseling and referrals, and information sharing and joint cooperative projects among the agencies.
Cases of secondary harm — such as illegal private lending and unlawful debt collection — are increasingly affecting people seeking funds for gambling. The agencies expressed hope that the partnership would help troops recover quickly by addressing not only gambling treatment and rehabilitation but also related financial problems, including illegal lending and overdue debts.
Participating agencies also adopted a joint declaration on preventing gambling problems among young people, pledging to reduce youth exposure to illegal online gambling and to strengthen coordinated efforts to detect problems early and connect those affected with the support they need. The ceremony included the presentation of commendations from the minister of culture, sports and tourism and the commission chairman to individuals who contributed to gambling prevention and treatment, as well as an awards ceremony and screening for winners of a 29-second short-form video contest.
The second part of the ceremony featured a policy forum on the current state of gambling problems among military personnel and the direction of future responses. The forum included presentations on the situation and policy approaches, as well as accounts of actual recovery cases. A panel discussion and question-and-answer session with prevention and treatment experts followed, examining the roles of relevant agencies and avenues for cooperation.
Participants agreed that effectively addressing gambling problems among troops requires more than basic preventive education. They called for a phased response system that detects problems early within the military, connects service members with professional counseling and treatment, and provides support for financial and debt issues where necessary.
Participants particularly emphasized the need to create an environment in which service members can seek counseling and support without hesitation, given the nature of military organizations. They also stressed the need to strengthen coordination among agencies so that counseling and treatment begun during military service are not interrupted after discharge.
The commission said the agreement extends a youth gambling prevention framework established in May during "Youth Gambling Problem Prevention Week," when six agencies built a cooperative system targeting adolescents, now expanding it to cover the military service stage. The intent is to create a more comprehensive response to gambling problems spanning both adolescents and young adults by linking prevention education and early intervention for teenagers with treatment and recovery support for those already serving in the military.
The commission said it plans to continue working-level consultations with partner agencies to refine support procedures and referral pathways, and to keep improving the cooperative framework so that troops can access preventive education, counseling, treatment, and financial and debt support when they need it.
"Protecting military personnel from online gambling requires not just preventive education but a seamless connection among early detection, counseling and treatment, and financial and debt support," commission Chairman Choi Byung-hwan said. "We will push ahead with follow-up measures without delay so that this agreement becomes the starting point for linking each agency's support into a single system." He added that the commission would strengthen cooperation with partner agencies to ensure that prevention policies begun in adolescence carry through to the military service stage, and work to build a social protection framework that keeps young people safe from gambling problems.
kty@heraldcorp.com
