TLDR
- Gangwon police are handling the first reported Polymarket gambling probe targeting South Korean domestic users.
- Authorities are reviewing whether crypto prediction market bets violate South Korea’s private gambling restrictions nationwide.
- ChosunBiz reported election-related Polymarket betting volumes reached hundreds of billions of won before police scrutiny.
- Users may face Article 246 penalties including fines of up to 10 million won maximum.
- Polymarket remained accessible without IP circumvention according to details cited in the Korean ChosunBiz report.
South Korean police have opened an illegal gambling investigation into local users of Polymarket, the world’s largest prediction market, according to ChosunBiz. The report said the case appears to be the first domestic probe targeting Korean users of the platform. The investigation centers on whether bets placed through Polymarket violated South Korea’s restrictions on private gambling services.
The inquiry is being handled by the Gangwon Provincial Police, following a request from the National Police Agency. ChosunBiz reported that people under review include users living in Gangwon Province and other regions across the country. Police have not publicly released details about the number of users or the transaction amounts linked to individual accounts.
First police case focuses on domestic users
Polymarket allows users to trade event-based contracts tied to political, financial, sports, and other outcomes. In South Korea, authorities are treating participation by local users as possible gambling rather than ordinary market activity. The platform can reportedly be accessed from South Korea without an IP bypass, which made its markets available to domestic users.
According to the report, Korean users were able to place bets with dollar-linked stablecoins and other crypto assets. Polymarket did not impose reported restrictions that prevented those users from participating in markets concerning Korean events. The police review is expected to examine how accounts were funded, traded, and settled on the platform.
The case drew attention because Polymarket has operated legally in certain overseas contexts while facing separate restrictions in other jurisdictions. South Korean law applies domestic gambling rules to residents, even when a betting service is based abroad. Legal representatives cited by ChosunBiz said the basic elements of a gambling charge appear to be present.
Legal framework places betting outside Sports Toto under ban
South Korea permits limited sports betting through Sports Toto, which is operated under the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation. Betting on other private platforms is generally treated as illegal under current law. The report noted that Sports Toto also carries a betting cap, while prediction markets can involve much larger exposure.
Users investigated in the Polymarket case may face charges under Article 246 of the Criminal Act. That provision covers gambling and habitual gambling, with penalties that can include fines of up to 10 million won. Lawyers cited in the report said sentencing levels remain difficult to predict because there is no known domestic precedent involving Polymarket users.
The Korea Communications Standards Commission reportedly said it had not reviewed Polymarket because complaints had not been filed. That position indicates the platform had not been subject to prior domestic access blocking through that review process. Accessibility, however, does not determine legality under South Korean gambling law.
Election markets drew high betting volumes
The investigation also follows heavy activity on Polymarket markets tied to South Korea’s June 3 local elections. ChosunBiz reported that betting volume connected to those election markets reached hundreds of billions of won. Those markets allowed participants to speculate on political outcomes using crypto-based settlement rather than government-approved betting channels.
The scale of participation became part of the public focus after election-related contracts appeared on the platform. South Korean users could see prices that reflected market expectations about candidates and voting outcomes. Police are now reviewing user activity in a case that may shape how authorities approach offshore prediction market participation.
The probe comes as prediction markets continue to attract attention among crypto users, political observers, and financial traders. In South Korea, the central legal question is whether event contracts amount to illegal betting when money or digital assets are staked. The current investigation places local Polymarket users at the center of that question under existing criminal law.
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