"He Heard Others Made Money... Driven by Anxiety, He Lost 100 Million Won in a Month [College Students in Crisis]⑤"

Gambling Addiction Among University Students and People in Their 20s Doubles in Four Years
University Students Fixated on "Immediate Rewards" Due to Uncertain Future Income
"Debt Investment" Success Stories Fuel Financial Hardships for Universit

Last year, after enrolling at a university in Busan, a student identified as B tried to cover the cost of textbooks by selling online game items. The trouble started when B confided in a party member (an in-game teammate) about struggling with living expenses. B was introduced to an illegal casino site. What began as curiosity quickly turned into entertainment, and then addiction. At first, B even managed to win an amount roughly equivalent to a semester's tuition. However, in just one month, B lost 100 million won to gambling. After losing the money, B repeatedly borrowed from acquaintances, only to be turned down each time.

With the prolonged employment crisis, more university students facing economic hardship are turning to gambling. The uncertainty of future income has led many to focus solely on immediate rewards. There has also been an increase in cases where university students addicted to gambling become targets for crime.

According to the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service and other sources on May 12, the number of gambling addiction patients in their 20s—including university students—rose to 1,135 in 2024, doubling over four years. The growth rate has been steep, with numbers increasing from 603 in 2020, to 754 in 2021, 846 in 2022, 954 in 2023, and reaching 1,135 in 2024. In some years, the increase was close to 20%.

While highly addictive gambling often begins in the teenage years and intensifies in adulthood, "university student gambling" follows a different pattern. Due to tuition and housing costs that cannot be covered through part-time jobs alone, students turn to gambling as a way to make money. The cycle of "random rewards" leads to "misplaced confidence," and eventually to an obsession with recovering losses—a vicious cycle. Stories of people making money by "debt investing" (borrowing to invest) have blurred the line between investment and gambling. Now, coin and leveraged investments are evolving into sports betting and casino-style gambling.

In a special crackdown on cyber gambling crimes conducted by the National Office of Investigation at the National Police Agency from November 2024 to October of last year, suspects in their 20s made up the largest group. Of the 5,196 people apprehended, 1,514—or 25.3%—were in their 20s. This age group was involved not only in Sports Toto but also in game-based casino-type gambling.

University students addicted to gambling have also become targets for crime. Some directly participate in illegal gambling, while others are paid by illegal gambling site operators to provide bank accounts and phones under false names. For example, C, who had not found a job after graduating from university, was lured into crime by the promise of "5 million won per month, plus housing and living expenses."

The government does have some safety nets in place. Systems exist to provide counseling for gambling addiction, as well as treatment and relapse prevention. However, financial and administrative support has not kept up with the rise in gambling addiction. During last year's National Assembly audit, the inadequate monitoring and prevention system for the illegal gambling market—which has now surpassed 100 trillion won—came under scrutiny. The number of reports of illegal online gambling received by the Gambling Industry Supervisory Commission, which oversees the domestic gambling industry, increased from 20,928 in 2020 to 50,439 in 2024—more than doubling. However, the number of enforcement personnel only increased from 26 in 2022 to 32 last year.

The situation is similar at university counseling centers. It is difficult to find centers that offer specialized counseling for "gambling addiction." Some universities are seeking partnerships with external professional organizations, but there have been cases where counseling is switched to a paid service or the actual scope of counseling is limited.

The government's related budget does not reflect the reality. This year, the operating budget for the Gambling Industry Supervisory Commission is 4.837 billion won—an increase of only 562 million won from last year's 4.275 billion won. The increase was allocated to "reward money" and "research service fees." The budget for establishing an illegal online gambling monitoring system remains unchanged from last year, at 445 million won.

Professor Cho Yoonoh of Dongguk University's College of Police and Criminal Justice said, "University students are in a transitional period—not quite minors, but not fully independent adults either. In Korea, university students tend to pursue gambling not as an investment in their own capabilities, but as a way to make quick money. If universities do not protect students addicted to gambling in a timely manner, they will remain addicted into their 30s and beyond. Each school should at least have a system to connect these students to professional treatment centers."

※ If you are experiencing depression or distress that is difficult to talk about, or if someone around you is going through such difficulties, you can receive 24-hour counseling from an expert by calling the suicide prevention hotline at 109 or through the suicide prevention SNS counseling service "Madeleine."

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