Navigating Korea’s online maze

When anyone mentions online gaming in Asia, one country used to come to mind as the primary target – China.  However, recent political and domestic changes in and around the Mainland have shown this jurisdiction drop by up to 60 percent in important metrics such as gross gambling revenue and net profits for leading operators and game providers, even affecting the one time untouchable Playtech, as is widely known by last year’s profit warning. And while that happened, other markets emerged as the “next best thing” across Asia. Japan almost needs no introduction although it still remains a very challenging market. India has been appearing on many radars as well, with the emergence of new casinos and cricket focused-sports betting sites. Other Southeast Asian jurisdictions, such as Thailand and Vietnam, have been of interest for many but have always been outshone by the bright lights of Chinatown. One country has stood out for decades as the most opaque, mysterious and hard to penetrate regions in the world for online gambling – South Korea. With a massive average player value, Korean players are some of the biggest value players in the world, alongside their neighbors the Japanese. Generally known as a sports market, heavily reliant on affiliate traffic and virtually nonexistent payment solutions – South Korea has been very low on the priority list of major operators, and as a medium priority for the more adventurous ones.  Ruled primarily by local unlicensed casinos and some internationally licensed sites with a heavy presence in Manila, it is no surprise that up until recently there was not even a single licensed site fully dedicated to South Korea. Yesbet88 changed that in 2018, by becoming the first licensed operator making South Korea its only market. And with that ground broken, came many hard lessons and busted myths that I would like to share with AGB readers. Let’s untangle some of the larger questions, which may also apply to other jurisdictions across Asia.

1. Korea is the China of 10 years ago.