9 Suspects Linked to 153 Gambling Sites in South Korea
Three suspects were detained. The case covers 153 gambling sites built by one company, while a second business distributed some of those sites to operators.
According to Yonhap, the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency began looking into the network after receiving information about an employee of the distribution company in December 2025. Arrests followed through July.
Developer Received KRW2.18B
Seven of the nine suspects were connected to the development company. Police say it used live casino feeds from overseas and built gambling sites for the South Korean market. Between June 2023 and April 2026, the company developed and managed 153 sites.
Payments to the developer totaled about KRW2.18 billion. That works out to roughly KRW14.2 million for each site when the total is divided by 153, a 15M calculation. It is only an average based on the case totals; police did not say that each site carried the same fee.
31 Sites Went Through One Vendor
The other two suspects were linked to a distribution business. Investigators say the company received gambling sites from the developer and passed 31 of them on to individual operators. It also purchased virtual betting money and resold it.
About KRW270 billion ($195 million) was recorded in betting-money sales and related transactions from May 2024 to December 2025. The distributor received commissions of 8% to 10%, according to Seoul Economic Daily.
Police did not describe the KRW270 billion as revenue earned by the developer or as total bets placed across all 153 sites. The amount relates to the vendor's betting-money business and associated transactions.
KRW1B Frozen, 22 Sites Blocked
Investigators obtained a court order freezing KRW1 billion in suspected criminal proceeds. They also found 22 sites linked to the developer that were still accessible. South Korea's communications regulator was asked to block them.
Two additional suspects have left the country, according to police. Red notices have been issued for both.
Police Follow Suppliers Behind Gambling Sites
The case is aimed higher up the supply chain than a raid on an individual gambling site. Investigators followed the developer, the distributor and the virtual credits used by operators.
South Korean police have taken that approach in another recent investigation. In July, 15M reported on a separate Daegu case involving a suspect accused of supplying game credits to about 1,400 illegal betting sites.
The two investigations involve different suspects and different police agencies. However, both of them focus on businesses supplying illegal operators rather than only the operators themselves.
Gyeongnam police plan to continue a wider cyber-gambling crackdown through October 31. The two suspects who left South Korea remain wanted, according to Seoul Shinmun.