"Collected 30% of the Betting Amount"... Sad Confession of Changwon High School Student as 'Gambling Site Distributor'

'Earning 12 Million Won Monthly from Promoting Gambling Sites, Living a Luxurious Life'
'3050 Loans' Lead to Enslavement Experiences Among Youth, Exposed to Danger
Gyeongnam Middle and High School Students Have the Highest Nationwide Rate of Cyber G

As a result of a survey on cyber gambling among middle and high school students nationwide, Gyeongnam was found to have the highest risk group for gambling. Gambling behavior is leading to secondary crimes.
[Image source=Photo by O Seongsu]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Saeyan] "If someone who visited a gambling site after being lured by SNS promotions enters the recommender's ID when signing up as a member, 30% of that person's betting amount goes directly into the (recommender's) bank account. I once earned up to 12 million won a month that way."

A, a second-year high school student in Changwon currently receiving gambling treatment counseling at the Korea Center on Gambling Problems Management Gyeongnam Center, said, "There were more than a few friends who wanted me to teach them how to promote gambling sites, saying they wanted to make money together."

Until recently, A was in charge of a private gambling site’s general agency and aggressively lured people into gambling through multi-level marketing on online communities. He is a fortunate case who decided to quit voluntarily before it was too late and escape the 'quagmire.'

Unlike A, many youths are wandering in 'cyber gambling,' mixed with school violence and greed for money, but the lack of appropriate preventive education from educational authorities is worsening the seriousness. (Our paper's report "Youth in Gyeongnam Region Neglected in Cyber Gambling" dated March 31)

According to the Gambling Problems Management Center Gyeongnam Center on the 22nd, the proportion of middle and high school students in the Gyeongnam region who fall into the risk group for cyber gambling (3.9% of the total) is the highest nationwide.

The profits earned from gambling sites are either bet again or spent at entertainment bars. A once enjoyed a 'luxurious life' rarely experienced by high school students by flaunting his earnings with 'gamblers' in Telegram group chats, but now he remembers it as a regrettable past.

B, a third-year high school student in Changwon who sought counseling at the Gambling Problems Management Center, is a case who experienced the brink of death due to the so-called '3050 loan,' which has spread like a trend in recent years.

The '3050 loan' is a format where borrowing 300,000 won requires repaying 500,000 won a week later. B's debt snowballed to 30 million won over several months. When he reached the point of being unable to repay, the perpetrators collected gambling funds in an account under B's name to avoid detection and called it a 'piggy bank,' frequently withdrawing money.

Moreover, B was confined in a warehouse for a day and assaulted for not repaying the money, and all his wages from working at a restaurant were taken without a single penny left to him.

High-risk students with gambling problems in the Gyeongnam region are participating in a gambling eradication program.
[Image source=Korea Center on Gambling Problems Management, Gyeongnam Center]

Among youths, scams exploiting secondhand goods trading sites are also frequently occurring.

C, a first-year high school student in Changwon, confessed at the counseling center that he repaid gambling debts or raised gambling funds by posting only photos of electronic devices and home appliances on Junggonara (a secondhand marketplace) and then cutting off contact after receiving payment.

All these students are currently receiving gambling problem management counseling at the Korea Center on Gambling Problems Management Gyeongnam Center. About 23 students have been receiving counseling treatment at the center so far this year.

The common point among them is that they were discovered long after being exposed to secondary crimes. It is difficult to detect the actual gambling situation until the seriousness of the problem through secondary crimes becomes apparent.

Experts emphasize that proactive response is most important regarding students' gambling problems, but in reality, awareness of youth gambling issues is low in Gyeongnam's educational field.

The person in charge of prevention education and promotion at the Korea Center on Gambling Problems Management Gyeongnam Center bitterly remarked, "When we actually go to the educational field, most teachers are unaware of the students' gambling situation."

Park Geunwoo, director of the Gambling Problems Management Center Gyeongnam Center, emphasized, "Considering the difficulty of early detection of gambling problems and the fact that many students lack guardians to help solve these issues, ultimately, each educational field must pay more attention and be vigilant about students' cyber gambling situations."

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