(AsiaGameHub) – By: Jonathan Vance
South Korean police aren’t just targeting Polymarket and Kalshi as platforms. They’re expanding their investigation to individual traders. This is a sharp shift in regional regulatory enforcement. For years, most global enforcers focused on platform operators, not casual users. Now, anyone using these prediction markets could face fines under local laws. The maximum penalty is 10 million won, or roughly $6,500, per Article 246 of the Criminal Act.
South Korea’s legal gambling options are extremely limited. Only state-backed Sports Toto and the national lottery are allowed for legal betting. Authorities frame any other platform trading as illegal gambling. The Gangwon Provincial Police lead the probe, ordered by the National Police Agency. The debate over whether prediction markets count as gambling is still unresolved in the country. Regulators are moving forward with enforcing existing laws regardless.
This enforcement shift isn’t unique to South Korea. Japan has been targeting individual gamblers for years, rather than just platform operators. Other Asian countries like Singapore and China have taken similar hard lines. In contrast, Western nations rarely enforce gambling laws against individual users. Most Western enforcement focuses on operator fines, payment restrictions, or ISP bans instead.
Polymarket faces regulatory pushback across multiple regions beyond Asia. The platform has been targeted in Belgium, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. It also ran afoul of Indonesian authorities recently. The platform ran a market on whether Indonesia’s incumbent president would finish their term. The government banned the platform within a single day of the market launching.
Polymarket has worked to comply with global regulatory demands. It has rolled out stricter Know Your Customer safeguards for all users. The goal is to protect consumers and prove it can meet strict admittance rules. The company has taken steps to align with regional regulations across every market it operates in. These changes come after years of largely unregulated trading on many prediction platforms.
This regional crackdown will force nearly all small prediction platforms to exit Asian markets entirely.
Author bio: Jonathan Vance, lead focus editor for an independent overseas public affairs weekly covering global tech and financial regulation.