[Weekly Kyunghyang] Some of the young people who went to Cambodia returned as remains, others as criminal suspects. Many likely have still not returned. The National Intelligence Service estimated that between 1,000 and 2,000 Koreans took part in crimes in Cambodia. Parsing whether each of them is a perpetrator or a victim individualizes the issue. What matters more is to find why a considerable number of Korean youths chose to head to Cambodia. Cambodia was merely the scene; the cause lies in Korea.

The simple answer is ‘money’. Many youths headed to Cambodia after seeing online job ads promising high pay or at the urging of acquaintances. We need to examine why and for what reasons they needed money. Many of those who went urgently needed large sums despite the risks.

The verdicts of those who returned from Cambodia offer a few clues. Mr. A, recently sentenced to prison by the Daegu District Court, left for Cambodia with three friends after contact from a Cambodian voice-phishing ring. According to the ruling, he headed there because he needed gambling funds. Mr. B, who received a four-year prison sentence at the Seoul Eastern District Court this April, also went for gambling. To repay gambling debts, he went to Cambodia and managed bank accounts for a scam ring that ran stock-tip chat rooms.

Among the reasons for setting off to Cambodia is illegal online gambling. Mr. C (35), who encountered illegal online gambling in his mid-twenties and became savvy about so-called ‘illegal gigs’, said, “You can figure that almost everyone who went to Cambodia gambles. A hallmark of gamblers is that, when they gamble, they do not leave even 10 won in their pockets. They have already borrowed from loan sharks, they need to make money, and the easiest route is the illegal one.” Mr. D (28), who has been unable to quit gambling since middle school, was about to leave for Cambodia this March. He said, “At that time I had lost tens of millions of won and thought, ‘I am screwed’, so I went to ‘Hades Cafe (an illegal platform that brokers high-paying overseas jobs)’ to look for posts. They said they pay tens of millions of won per month, and when I spoke with them, they pitched really well. There was sexual entertainment once a week, karaoke all the time, a good company vibe, single rooms like a hotel…. I believed it. When you are desperate, you end up believing it.” Mr. D weighed going to Cambodia against illegally renting out his bank account, chose the account rental, and is now under investigation.

We should not dismiss this as the problem of a few individuals who fell into gambling, because illegal online gambling has become rampant among teenagers. In a survey conducted on students from 4th grade in elementary school through high school, 4.3% said they had gambling experience (2024 Youth Gambling Survey). A simple estimate translates that to 170,000 students in those grades. Last year the National Police Agency conducted a year-long special crackdown on illegal online gambling and apprehended 9,971 people; about half, 4,715, were under 19. Among the youths caught were two nine-year-olds. Just as Mr. D, who first gambled in 9th grade, later considered heading to Cambodia, some of these teenagers may again knock on the doors of criminal groups. Amid policy interventions focused almost solely on addiction treatment and prevention education, we listened to voices from school sites that are turning into gambling halls.

Mr. E (17), a second-year high school student, has been hospitalized in a closed ward for over a month to quit gambling. He first encountered gambling in 9th grade. While watching a movie with a friend on an illegal OTT site, a gambling ad banner flashed on the side. At first it was curiosity. Soon he felt the fun and fell into the loop. He said, “The dopamine rush is enormous. Before gambling I liked soccer or ‘LoL (League of Legends)’. After I started gambling, gambling became the most fun game.” Watching 10,000 KRW ($7.50) turn into 80,00090,000 KRW ($60$67.50) in an instant, his stakes grew. He sometimes won 1,000,0002,000,000 KRW ($750$1,500), but he also lost 2,000,000 KRW ($1,500) in a day. If he won, he wagered the winnings again; if he lost, he borrowed from those around him. In the end, only the debt grew.

Ordinarily a senior in high school, Mr. F (18) quit school last year. He now says he has quit gambling. He began gambling in 8th grade. He watched a friend earn 500,000 KRW ($375) in an instant. Right there he sent money to the friend and gambled using the friend’s account. He staked 50,000 KRW ($37.50), and it returned as 250,000 KRW ($187.50). He said, “I think that dopamine hit exploded then, so I kept going. Betting money made it much more fun than games.” He once won 6,000,000 KRW ($4,500) at a stroke, then immediately lost 5,000,000 KRW ($3,750). Mr. F also ended up borrowing to keep playing. At the most, he owed 2,500,000 KRW ($1,875).

There are several reasons gambling has spread among teenagers like a trend. First, with a smartphone alone they can gamble anytime, anywhere. Mr. E’s first sign-up for a gambling site was easy. The site called for approval but never asked whether he was a minor. In recent years, some so-called ‘major’ gambling sites have strengthened adult verification, but smaller sites let minors join easily. Mr. F said, “In a class of 30, about 10 did it. Anyone can do it with just a smartphone. Some follow friends, others do it because they need money. At school, kids would even gather to play baccarat (a fast card game and one of the games teenagers play most).”

Second, an ecosystem that lets them keep gambling has taken hold in a corner of the classroom. Usurious lending among students is typical. Mr. E said, “I borrowed from dozens of school friends. Too many to count. About half of them were friends who gambled, and even those who did not gamble would lend sometimes. The more someone gambled, the more likely they were to tack on usurious interest.” Mr. E typically borrowed 100,000 KRW ($75) and agreed to repay 130,000 KRW ($97.50) a week later. Annualized, that is over 1,000%. In one case, a 400,000 KRW ($300) principal sweled to 800,000 KRW ($600).

If you cannot repay, hell breaks loose. Mr. E said he was “beaten up” by two friends he had borrowed from. The snowballing debt becomes a reason to gamble again. Teenagers cannot easily tell their parents, and with no clear income beyond allowance, gambling looks like the only source of money. This is why it is hard for teenagers to escape the loop of gambling. Mr. E said, “At some point I gambled to repay. I had entered a loop I could not escape. It is a real hell. I even looked into illegal private lenders because I could not handle the debt. When you rack up debt beyond your age, it eats at your mind. The anxiety is immense.” In the end, the creditor friends called Mr. E’s parents many times to dun them.

In some classrooms, gambling becomes the main topic of conversation. College student Mr. G (19) gambled from 8th grade through 11th grade. At his middle school, roughly 80% of the boys gambled; at his high school, about 70% did. He said, “School turned into a casino.” One of the gambling types teenagers often play is illegal sports Toto, where they bet on game results. What happens when overseas soccer, which many boys love, combines with gambling? Some pulled all-nighters analyzing even the injury lists of teams they would not normally care about, and some held heated debates in class about game results. Mr. G said, “Everyone hung out while gambling, lent each other money when they were broke, and talked about where they bet and how much they won. If I had been on a desert island by myself, it might have been less, but as soon as I went to school everyone talked about gambling, so it became easier to do. If you did not gamble, you could hardly join the conversation.”

Third, some illegal sites aggressively target schools. From the sites’ perspective, teenagers are marketing and promotion workers they can use at low cost. Some gambling sites give new members ‘free points’ that let them play a few rounds. New sign-ups are asked to enter a referrer, and the person who referred them also gets points. These mechanisms work especially well in schools, where students meet each other face to face every day. Students become self-appointed promoters of gambling sites. Mr. F said, “Among friends there were many cases of saying, ‘Sign up once using my referral code.’ I did it too. You get about 50,000 KRW ($37.50) per person, and I got referrals from four or five people.” To get friends to sign up, the newly recruited students fall into gambling again. Mr. E also acted as a voluntary promoter online. Mr. E said, “I have gone around different sites and written promotional posts like, ‘Sign up via this link.’”

At the top sit agents known as chongpan, who recruit members for gambling sites in exchange for payment, and many of them are teenagers. Now an adult, Mr. D said teenagers are actually better suited to being agents. He said, “Adults have a hard time recruiting people. I have seen waiters at nightlife venues do it. You can do it better as a student. Schools are common gathering places, are they not?”

College student Mr. G worked as a chongpan from 9th grade through 11th grade. Older acquaintances were agents for a gambling site and urged him to become one, saying, “Get your friends to sign up and take the money.” The revenue model for agents resembles a pyramid scheme. When someone the agent has recruited gambles, a portion of what that person spends goes to the agent. The more you invite, and the more those you invited spend, the more money you make. After becoming an agent, Mr. G recruited 5060 people. Mr. G said, “It was easy to recruit at school. I made 6,000,0007,000,000 KRW ($4,500$5,250) a month.”

Agents become banks inside schools that can even lend lump sums. Mr. G sometimes lent money too. He said, “I would lend 100,000 KRW ($75) and tell them to repay 130,000 KRW ($97.50) within a week. If someone who gambled on the site where I was an agent asked to borrow 100,000 KRW ($75), I was more willing to lend, because I would take a commission from the money they gambled and also take the interest.” If repayment was late, he sometimes collected 500,000 KRW ($375) on a 100,000 KRW ($75) principal, and even went to their homes. Some agents made those who could not repay do sales work. Mr. G said, “There are cases where they say, if you cannot repay, bring ten friends, or write promotional posts online to recruit people.” Those who worked it off would ceaselessly post gambling-site ads all over the internet and submit proof screenshots for the agent’s inspection. From the sites’ perspective, placing a few teenagers as agents yields the effect of building a sales and promotional network.

Gambling does not only ruin the person who gambles. It can also be a gateway to crimes that harm random others. Mr. H’s son started gambling in 7th grade. Mr. H learned of it around 9th grade. The introverted child who loved animals began stealing valuables at home. By then it could no longer be contained. After taking on gambling debts and failing to repay them, his son first stole household items, then took friends’ money, and later committed scams on secondhand marketplaces. He is now a high school senior on trial in custody.

After his son’s gambling, Mr. H said, “My whole life was destroyed.” Frequent quarrels with his spouse over their son led to divorce, and after chasing the trouble his son caused, he quit his job and now works at construction sites. He spent 120,000,000 KRW ($90,000) to pay his son’s gambling debts and 180,000,000 KRW ($135,000) in settlement money for his son’s crimes. Mr. H is receiving psychiatric treatment. He said, “Not knowing where to start or what to do drove me crazy. The kid thought only that he had to win back what he lost through gambling. Is that not what addiction is? I filed reports about (the gambling sites) with the police several times. They only said online gambling cannot be caught.”

Mr. E is also on trial. He gambled with a credit card he found. He said, “It would not be wrong to say every misdeed of mine came from gambling. My mindset itself became strange. I would think, ‘Why do a part-time job? Press a few buttons and, if lucky, money appears’, I grew more impulsive. Ads for high-paying gigs in Cambodia can easily lure you in. When you gamble, you cannot make normal judgments. You lose all sense.” He tried to quit several times, but each time could not make it past six months. He said, “I think few people can win on willpower alone. From now on I plan to get rid of all bank accounts in my name and live using a family member’s card ithout knowing the PIN. Personal will matters, but you must change your surroundings. These days I wonder how it would have been if I had been admitted (to a closed ward) from the start.”

In need of quick cash, Mr. D rented his bank account to a crime ring instead of going to Cambodia. For that, he is now under investigation by law enforcement. Unable to quit gambling for over ten years since 9th grade, he went to college and held decent jobs. But he could not quit gambling and could not focus on work. What he does these days is so-called ‘account blackmail’. He leaves posts on various sites saying he will recover money lost to gambling, and when someone contacts him, he deliberately deposits money into a gambling site. He then reports the account as suspected of voice phishing to have it frozen. Because money flow is a gambling site’s lifeline, some pay settlement money in exchange for withdrawing the report. A portion of that goes to Mr. D.

He spent most of the interview explaining how harmful gambling is. It is ironic that he still cannot quit. Mr. D said, “I have tried to quit several times. When that does not work, I keep living while fighting off the urge to die. It may sound like an excuse, but it is too easy to access gambling. I do not think quitting will be easy unless gambling sites disappear. Compared with ten years ago when I was in high school, if anything, there are more sites now, not fewer.”

Feeding on schools consumed by gambling, the criminal ecosystem is swelling. Can we solve this by condemning each youth who has fallen into gambling or each suspect who went to Cambodia seeking instant riches? Even now, we need to regard youth gambling as an urgent task for the community to address.