One hundred public officials will be disciplined en masse for habitually gambling at a local casino during work hours, state auditors said on Wednesday.

The Board of Audit and Inspection has recently conducted an intensive audit into 465 accounting and safety management officials who have visited Kangwon Land, the nation's only casino for both locals and foreigners, more than 20 times during workdays over the past four years.

The casino is located in Jeongseon, 214 kilometers east of Seoul.

After completing the audit, the agency demanded 100 civil servants be disciplined and reported 188 others to the chiefs of relevant organizations.

Among the 288 people found to have gambled during work hours were 23 Grade 5 or higher-level officials as well as 81 educational officials, including national university professors, and 20 police officers, according to the BAI.

They stayed away from their workplace without due permission and some even borrowed money from those related with their official duty or used a credit card owned by their corporate unit for gambling, the auditors said. (Yonhap News)