*This content was translated by AI.
In Part 1, we confronted the reality and scale of youth gambling. In Part 2, we examined the roles of families, schools, and the surrounding community. Now we face the final question. Can this problem be stopped by the efforts of individuals and families alone? The answer is unequivocal: impossible. This issue has already crossed national borders and cannot be resolved without the cooperation of laws, systems, and society as a whole.
"This is a game, not gambling!" This is the most common phrase heard by counselors from young people. However, today's reality makes it difficult to easily deny that statement. Probability-based items, real-time betting, and platforms based on virtual currencies may wear the guise of games, but their structures are no different from gambling. Rewards are unpredictable, losses are repeated, and stopping becomes increasingly difficult. Unpredictable rewards and a structure of repeated losses—that is the essence of gambling.
In Korea, there are virtually no legal forms of gambling that youth can participate in. Lotteries, online betting, and casinos are all for adults. Therefore, the conclusion is clear: regardless of form or channel, all gambling experienced by youth falls within the illegal sphere. Especially dangerous are platforms that target youth by offering Korean-language services while operating without age verification or only formally, or by maintaining overseas bases. Illegality hides behind familiarity.
Nevertheless, we are not standing idle. Responses are already being implemented concretely in school settings. The Korea Gambling Problem Prevention and Healing Institute conducted preventive education for approximately 1.73 million young people in 2025 alone. This is not a simple campaign but a systematic intervention carried out at the classroom level. Furthermore, starting in May 2026, preventive education on gambling will be mandated at least twice a year in elementary, middle, and high schools. All students will learn about the risks and structures of gambling at least twice.
This is a significant shift in that prevention is no longer optional but has become a basic component of public education. For high-risk youth, counseling and healing support are being provided in parallel, and the scope of support is expanding to include out-of-school youth and those in crisis. The introduction of AI-based counseling systems is also an attempt to lower the threshold for early intervention. We are already responding actively in the fields of education and policy.
However, we cannot stop here. The pace of policy still fails to keep up with the pace of threats. Illegal gambling platforms are constantly evolving, and in the gaps, youth are exposed even faster. Government efforts alone cannot bridge this gap. Now, the responsibility of society as a whole must become clear.
Platform companies and the IT industry must further strengthen filtering of gambling-related content and age verification. The structure that algorithms repeatedly expose youth to illegal gambling advertisements must be severed. The principle that protection must come before profit must be established.
Financial institutional investors also cannot be an exception. Gambling is completed the moment money flows. Blocking illegal fund flows through youth-named accounts and prepaid cards is not a choice but a responsibility. Overseas, financial institutional investors are already upgrading gambling-blocking systems. We can no longer stand by. Financial protection of youth is true social responsibility. Furthermore, illegal gambling is already a crime that has crossed borders. Platforms with overseas bases are directly targeting youth through Korean-language services and advertisements. If digital crimes have no borders, responses must also cross borders. It is time to strengthen the blocking of access to illegal platforms and international cooperative investigations through inter-ministerial collaboration.
Nevertheless, there remains one final unresolved link: legislation. Currently, bills for the prevention of youth gambling and the protection of victims are pending in the National Assembly. These include measures to strengthen platform responsibility, share financial information, and establish institutional mechanisms for victim protection. Legislative delay is the extension of harm. At this very moment, someone is crumbling in that void. The National Assembly must accept this issue as a task directly linked to the survival of future generations. Swift legislation is not a choice but an obligation.
As a public official at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, I have long dealt with policies in bright areas. However, facing the gambling problem, I realized that wherever there is light, darkness also exists. Even within the heart's desire for a better life, desire and temptation quietly grow. In times when no one is watching, before a screen faced alone, that temptation becomes even clearer. Therefore, this is not merely a matter of regulation but a matter of our society's choice and responsibility.
The solution to the youth gambling problem does not lie in a single policy or one financial institutional investor. The interest of schools, conversations with parents, the help of friends, the ethics of platforms, the responsibility of finance, and the resolve of legislators must all work together. And the starting point has already become clear: repetitive and systematic preventive education in schools. Giving children the strength to understand the structure of gambling and to distance themselves from it on their own is the most realistic and effective first line of defense.
Most importantly, what matters is helping children make other choices. Experiencing a sense of achievement and excitement through sports, arts, service, and exploration is the most fundamental prevention. Regulation and enforcement are necessary but not sufficient. A healthy and attractive life that children can choose must exist first.
As I conclude this three-part series, I ask, not as a public official but as an adult: What kind of world are we leaving for our children today? We must not become a society that moves only after paying social costs exceeding 2 trillion won. For every adult reading this article, paying attention to even one youth is the most powerful policy and the most certain prevention. Children did not choose gambling. We created the environment that made that choice possible. Now it is time to change that environment together.
[Key Contacts]
Gambling Problem Counseling: 1336 (Korea Gambling Problem Prevention and Healing Institute, 24 hours)
Report Illegal Gambling: 1855-0112 (Integrated Supervisory Committee for Gambling Industries)
Youth Crisis Counseling: 1388 (Youth Counseling and Welfare Center)
Legal Counseling: 132 (Korea Legal Aid Corporation)
School-Designated Police Officer (SPO): Connect through your enrolled school
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*This content was translated by AI.
