South Korea Orders Block on Polymarket Over Gambling Speculation Concerns

South Korea is to block access to Polymarket, the U.S.-based prediction market platform. The Korea Media and Communications Commission reached the decision after determining the platform’s activities aid and abet gambling under the country’s criminal law.

The commission consulted with the Korean National Police Agency, the National Gambling Control Commission and the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation. It cited the winner-take-all structure in which financial gains and losses depend on events beyond users’ control, including politics, economics, international relations, sports, elections and weather. Yonhap News Agency reported the regulator viewed this as inciting gambling tendencies and in breach of the National Sports Promotion Act. Internet service providers will enforce the block, though no effective date was specified.

Polymarket’s Arguments and the Commission’s Rebuttal

Polymarket submitted that it fell outside the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection. The platform noted its removal of Korean-language services, its inability to accept the Korean won and its operation via non-custodial peer-to-peer transactions using blockchain-based smart contracts. It argued it was not an “administrator” under the relevant communications rules.

The commission rejected those positions outright. It held that technical features or the absence of local language options do not shield companies from South Korean law. The presence of South Korea-specific event contracts on the platform, such as “Seoul rainfall in August,” formed part of the basis for the ruling. As first reported by GGRAsia citing Yonhap, the decision aligns with Polymarket‘s existing self-restrictions: the platform lists itself as blocked in Japan, North Korea, Myanmar, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand and completely restricted in 39 countries worldwide to meet international sanctions, local financial regulations, gambling and prediction market laws, anti-money laundering requirements and know-your-customer rules.

Limits of Structural Defenses in Regulated Markets

The commission’s focus on economic outcomes rather than technology sets a clear marker for how prediction platforms are assessed against local statutes. Operators entering or serving adjacent Asian jurisdictions will need to weigh whether similar event contracts trigger parallel enforcement even without direct payment or language support.

Reporting: GGRAsia

Generated by SCCG’s automated editorial system from published source reporting. SCCG Management holds editorial responsibility.