Slightly more than one-tenth of South Korean teenagers with online gambling experience have resorted to illegal private loans to repay gambling debts, according to a report released by a state-run think tank, prompting measures to protect teenagers from gambling addiction.
The National Youth Policy Institute in July 2024 surveyed 505 teenagers here, comprised of 135 middle school and 370 high school students with experience in online gambling.
Some 38.6 percent of the respondents said they borrowed money from friends to continue online gambling, while 12.7 percent said they took out private loans from illegal private lenders or friends who charged high interest rates.
When asked whether they had seen or heard of their friends borrowing money to enjoy online gambling, 67.9 percent said “yes.” Researchers found that 29.7 percent of surveyed teenagers also heard or witnessed friends applying for a private loan to repay their gambling debt.
The teenagers who resorted to illegal private loans most frequently came from high-income families, followed by middle-income and low-income families, according to the state-run think-tank. The report also showed that 51.7 percent of respondents said they received "poor" grades in school, but the National Youth Policy Institute did not specify academic criteria for the self-assessment.
Though almost 60 percent of the teenagers revealed that their financial losses from online gambling, including their debts, were below 500,000 won ($344), seven respondents said their losses were more than 20 million won.
According to the research institute, the biggest reason for engaging in online gambling was peer influence with 62.2 percent answering that they were introduced to online gambling through their friends.
Other reasons included online advertisements for gambling on illegal streaming and webtoon sites, ads posted on social media and spam messages.
The same survey showed that 66.1 percent of respondents started online gambling to make money quickly. The thrill of winning money and attempts to recover gambling losses were other major reasons for continued gambling.
About 53.1 percent said the easy access to gambling websites was the most challenging aspect of quitting online gambling.
The report highlighted the importance of rooting out the underlying causes of the spread of online gambling among teenagers.
“It is necessary to take preventive measures to block the accessibility of online gambling from the teenagers," the National Youth Policy Institute said in the report. "Prioritizing early intervention is also crucial as gambling is impossible to stop on one’s own and exposes to other risks, including involvement in crime, dropping out of school, homelessness and suicide attempts, due to the unmanageable debt that gets out of their hand."
sj_lee@heraldcorp.com
