Korea has 3.2 million adults addicted to gambling, and 1.3 million of them are seriously addicted and in need of urgent medical treatment, according to the Korean Racing Association, which sponsors gambling activities, and the Seoul Olympic Sports Promotion Foundation.
The figures were presented to the Millennium Democrat lawmaker Lee Jung-il, a member of the National Assembly’s Committee of Agriculture, Forestry, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. According to the statistics, 9.3 percent of Korean adults are addicted to gambling, and 49 percent show a lack of will power, 32 percent suffer problems with relationships, 39 percent are unable to pay off debts, 16 percent are unemployed and 14 percent are violent toward their spouses.
Also, the committee was also told that 3.8 percent of Korean adults have severely lost their sense of control and have a high possibility of endangering themselves, their families or co-workers, and thus are in need of immediate medical treatment.
This percentage of gambling addicts among adults is four to five times higher than that of other nations such as the United States (1-2 percent), Canada (2.6 percent) and Australia (2.1 percent). The ratio is even higher that that of the U.S. state known for gambling, Nevada, …
