BJ Encouraging Gambling on Internet Personal Broadcasts After Hunting Was Stopped?

With Police and Platform Sanctions Blocking Hunting Broadcasts, Viewers Send 'Byeolpoongppang'
Police Struggle as It Is Difficult to Crack Down on Individual Broadcasts One by One

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] “Win 2 consecutive games and get one chicken. You can participate if you send 100 chickens.”

# Around 1 a.m. on the 20th, on an internet personal broadcasting platform. When entering a broadcast titled “Giving away chicken,” Hwa-tu cards were laid out on the screen. The BJ conducting the broadcast was diligently shuffling the Hwa-tu cards and playing the so-called ‘Seotda.’ This BJ was previously a ‘hunting BJ’ who conducted hunting broadcasts targeting ordinary women in areas like Gangnam and Hongdae in Seoul.

When a viewer gifted about 10,000 won worth of cyber money, the game officially began. After placing two Hwa-tu cards side by side on each side, the BJ designated numbers 1 and 2, and the viewer chose number 2. Soon after, the BJ flipped the cards. Number 1 had the higher hand, and the BJ made a playful expression to tease the viewer. The viewer then sent another 10,000 won worth of cyber money, and the game continued for a while.

Internet broadcasting BJs, who have been at the center of controversies such as drunk driving and sexual harassment of ordinary people, are now embroiled in scandals over illegal gambling. In particular, many hunting BJs, whose income sources have been cut off due to police and platform regulations, are switching to gambling broadcasts.

According to the National Police Agency on the 22nd, illegal gambling accounted for the largest portion in the concentrated crackdown on illegal activities in internet personal broadcasting conducted at the end of last year. Sixteen illegal acts and 91 BJs were caught, with four of them arrested. Among them, cyber gambling involved 49 people, accounting for about 54% of the total. There were cases of promoting gambling sites during broadcasts or receiving money from viewers to gamble on their behalf, but there were also cases where BJs directly encouraged gambling by accepting cyber money such as star balloons or popcorn.

Recently, a new type of gambling has been rampant, where BJs use cyber money received from viewers as stakes to play Seotda, Odd-Even, Ladder Game, etc., and give out chicken gifticons for 3 to 5 consecutive wins. If the BJ wins even once, the game ends immediately.

This type of gambling is mainly led by former hunting BJs. When police were dispatched to the scene due to viewer reports during hunting broadcasts or when platforms stopped broadcasts due to excessive skinship, hunting BJs started this to replace their income. Some BJs have become specialized gambling BJs, while so-called ‘Nudity BJs,’ who mainly do exposure broadcasts, also switch their content to gambling when platforms impose exposure restrictions to continue broadcasting.

Illegal gambling, whose total stakes exceed 100 trillion won annually and whose scale is growing every year, is now expanding its influence through internet personal broadcasting. Although illegal gambling is spreading indiscriminately to teenagers through internet personal broadcasting, related measures are limited to voluntary regulations by internet operators.

As the cyber gambling problem worsens, the police recently formed dedicated cyber gambling task forces in 17 local police agencies and are cracking down, but it is difficult to even enforce regulations on personal broadcasts, causing headaches. A police official emphasized, “Illegal acts committed during personal broadcasts and new crimes using personal broadcasting platforms have a large ripple effect, so active reporting and tips from the public are essential.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.