South Korea reviews Polymarket over gambling concerns after first local user probe

South Korea’s Broadcasting, Media and Communications Review Committee will hear from Polymarket before deciding whether to take corrective action over gambling concerns. For PSPs and banks, the useful bit is simple: this is no longer just about local users on the platform; regulators are now looking at Polymarket itself.

1. On Monday, the committee said it would let Polymarket submit its position before making a final decision on a corrective request. The stated purpose was to “thoroughly verify the legality of Polymarket and the way the service is operated.”
2. South Korea’s National Gambling Control Commission Act defines an “illegal gaming business” to include online services that enable speculative gambling, and gives regulators authority to monitor and combat such businesses. That is the legal hook behind the review.
3. The scrutiny comes while Polymarket already faces access restrictions in 33 countries, including the US, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Brazil, Singapore, Japan and Australia. The company also says some regions within otherwise accessible countries are restricted, including Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec in Canada, as well as Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine.
4. This is a shift from the earlier South Korean police action, which targeted local Polymarket users over alleged illegal gambling linked to election-related markets. On June 5, the Gangwon Provincial Police launched what was reported as South Korea’s first illegal gambling probe into local Polymarket users, after a request from the National Police Agency.
5. Under South Korea’s Criminal Act, gambling is punishable by a fine of up to 10 million won (about $6,500), habitual gambling can carry up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won, and operating a gambling venue for profit is punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won.

Polymarket says its restrictions are meant to comply with sanctions, local financial rules, gambling and prediction market laws, anti-money laundering requirements and Know Your Customer regulations. For payment providers, the message is familiar enough: prediction markets sit in the same compliance neighborhood as gambling, even when the product team insists the category is different.