South Korean Regulators Launch a Review of Whether Polymarket Breaches Anti-Gambling Laws

On May 22, according to Bloomberg, the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) has officially launched a review of the prediction market platform Polymarket to determine whether it offers illegal gambling content, thereby violating South Korea’s anti-gambling laws.
Under South Korea’s current legal framework, gambling activities are subject to strict restrictions and are only permitted when run by state-recognized institutions, such as horse racing and sports betting. However, Polymarket argues that the odds on its platform are determined by market participants through buying and selling contracts, rather than being set by the platform itself, and therefore should not fall within the scope of the anti-gambling law.
It is also worth noting that South Korea will hold local elections in June this year, and there are already multiple prediction markets on Polymarket related to election outcomes.