Sinking in Debt After Cyber Gambling in Military... Defense Ministry Considers Self-Reporting System

Amid growing criticism that the reality of cyber gambling within the military is far more severe than official statistics suggest, the Ministry of National Defense has begun reviewing a military version of a self-reporting system.

The Ministry of National Defense submitted a written response today to the office of Reform Party lawmaker Chun Ha-ram of the National Assembly's Defense Committee, stating, "We are currently reviewing the implementation of an illegal gambling self-reporting system for service members."

The ministry explained, "We are considering measures such as reducing administrative and criminal liability upon self-reporting, as well as providing active rehabilitation support through connections with specialized institutions."

This means expanding the gambling self-reporting system recently introduced by the government for adolescents into the military.

This approach places greater emphasis on treatment rather than punishment.

This is interpreted as a reflection of the view that, given the underground nature of gambling problems, efforts to bring gambling addicts spread across the military out into the open are the first step toward solving the problem.

According to Army Headquarters, 313 soldiers (20 officers and 293 enlisted personnel) were booked by military police on charges of cyber gambling last year.

Loan brokerage websites frequently feature posts such as, "I am a corporal earning 1.2 million won a month. I can repay this later with my military savings" (requesting a loan of 5 million won), and "I will receive 7.5 million won in military savings matching support funds on the 11th of next month, so I can repay it immediately."

Regarding this, the Ministry of National Defense stated, "We are preparing relevant countermeasures based on the results of the survey on illegal gambling in the military," adding, "We will review whether to conduct additional surveys by comprehensively considering the implementation status of future illegal gambling prevention measures in the military, trends in the occurrence of illegal gambling, and changes in internal and external conditions."

In the survey, an in-depth study was conducted on 52 individuals who had engaged in illegal gambling in the military. Among the 52, the proportion of those who had experienced illegal gambling even before enlistment or commissioning reached 80%.

The Ministry of National Defense explained that its current measures include providing financial and economic education to all service members by dispatching economic education instructors.

It also stated that for service members caught gambling, separate from criminal punishment, it is supporting their recovery through connections with the Gambling Problem Prevention and Treatment Center, personal rehabilitation, and debt adjustment.

Lawmaker Chun urged, "As this is a side effect arising from changed environments such as increased salaries for enlisted soldiers and the permission of smartphones, the ministry should not stop at a principled review and must devise more active, effective, and special countermeasures."

(Photo: Provided by Yonhap News TV, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.