More South Korean Celebs are facing habitual gambling charges in foreign countries due to the failure to obey local rules and regulations.
This past Wednesday, Metropolitan Police in Seoul concluded their months of investigation into whether some individuals, including Seungri and YG’s Yang Hyun Suk, are victims of chronic gambling in casinos outside of South Korea as stated in calvinayre.
South Korea has stringent limits as to how often its citizens can take part in gambling activities, which has restricted them to local lotteries, a couple of race wagers, and the Kangwon Land casino located 200 kilometres to the north of the country.
Any South Koreans found to be gambling for other reasons other than monetary pleasure in a foreign country is liable to a fine worth US$17000 and prison sentence not exceeding three years.
South Korean investigators stated that 28-year-old Seungri, formerly of the Big Bang boy band, gambled more than US$855000 during a visit to Las Vegas 5 years ago. Police think Seungri’s habitual gambling has been continuing for much longer; however, the law on this matter has a statute of limitations.
Yang, who is currently 49, stepped down as CEO of K-pop management record label this summer. It is reported that he spent hundreds of millions that he won at several casinos in Vegas over a similar period as Seungri. Three other people, who are friends of Yang, are also expected to face the same charges.
A local media is an aid to have quoted police officials who said that these gamblers violated foreign exchange transaction Act to fund activities overseas. However, their probe did not uncover any evidence to support this claim.
In December of last year, the South Korean police arrested and charged Shoo, a female K-pop star, with being a habitual gambler after she blew up KRW790 million at a casino in Macau over two years.
In February, she was awarded a six-month sentence that was suspended for two years. The singer finally emerged out of a self-imposed exile and announced that she is planning to release a new song, which might be a cover of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.”
The whole uproar over her non-monetary indulgence at a casino in Macau forced the South Korea Consul in Hong Kong to announce the two legal cooperation fronts that were signed in Macau were not targeting South Korean Citizens specifically.
Although South Korea’s Consul general, Sonia Chan Hoi Fan, denied the argument that the new rules were designed to constrain Korean tourists traveling in Macau, she did cop to the notion that the distinguish between gambling and recreational activities. Therefore, all Korean nationals traveling to other countries should do their best to restrict their activities in Casino Hubs.
Gambling is a massive problem in many parts of the world. Countries are reacting to the effects that these activities have on their citizens in different ways. The EU has tightened laws on Gambling, and it seems that this is the direction of South Korea, and a few other countries are headed.
