Escalating Illegal Gambling within Military Units
Illegal gambling within military units is becoming increasingly severe.
A photo to help understand the article / Republic of Korea Army Instagram
On the 29th, SBS 8 News reported the story of Mr. A, a father who had sent his 20-year-old son to the military last year.
Mr. A received an unexpected call from the unit in February, five months after his son’s enlistment. There was a problem with his son.
The news from the unit was shocking. His son had borrowed money from fellow soldiers to gamble illegally online. The total amount was about 11 million won (about $8,500).
SBS 8 News
Easy Access to Gambling
Mr. A claimed, “Except for duty hours, mobile phones are distributed every day, so it’s easy to gamble anytime.”
It wasn’t the first time Mr. A’s son had gambled since enlisting. The son had fallen into illegal online gambling when he was a high school sophomore.
The family had hoped that he would improve after enlistment but claimed that he continued illegal online gambling even in the military.
Legal Consequences
Mr. A’s son was eventually handed over to a military court.
In addition to this story, there are other cases where illegal gambling has been detected within the military.
SBS 8 News
Last month, a soldier from an army air defense unit who had been addicted to gambling before enlistment was caught gambling illegally on his mobile phone.
This soldier had gambled 350 million won (about $270K) over 700 instances.
Since the implementation of a pilot project allowing soldiers to use mobile phones in 2019, the number of detected gambling crimes in the military has significantly increased.
As of last May, out of 162 detected crimes related to mobile phones, 146 cases, or 90%, were gambling-related.
SBS 8 News
Importance of Education and Punishment
Professor Seung Pil Namgung of Woosuk University’s Department of Military Studies emphasized the importance of education and punishment, stating that if individuals are caught, measures should be taken to discharge them as corporals, not sergeants.
A Ministry of National Defense official stated that they are training instructors to prevent illegal gambling and providing education to inform soldiers of the risks involved. Additionally, they mentioned that they are in the process of developing a military gambling response manual.
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