Korea gambling trends 'likely to deepen'

Categories

Addiction Treatment
Alcohol
Drugs
Gambling
In the papers
On TV

News Archive

Home » News » Gambling » Korea gambling trends 'likely to deepen'

by Change | 14 Sep 2010

Bookmark

E-mail

Korea has a disproportionately large number of people battling gambling addictions, figures have revealed.

Some 6.1 per cent of Koreans are believed to be gambling addicts, a figure which is more than double that of most other nations.

This is according to the country's National Gaming Control Commission, with a further 61.4 per cent of the population regularly visiting gambling outlets, The Korea Herald reports.

By contrast, just 1.9 per cent of the UK's population struggles with a gambling addiction, while the figure in Canada is as low as 1.7 per cent.

Cho Hyun-sub, who runs the state-managed Prevention Center for Gambling Addiction, said that most people battling a gambling addiction are self-employed males in their 30s and 40s.

"With the economic slowdown ongoing, the trend is likely to deepen," he explained to the newspaper.

"Despite its serious effects, our society still considers gambling addiction as an individual problem."

The Gaming Control Commission was formed three years ago and offers free gambling addiction treatment at centres across the country.

Central to its aims is the establishment of a "safe and reliable gambling culture".

Bookmark this: