Korea Gaming Industry Supervisory Commission National Gambling Control Commission (Korea)

Overview

The Korea Speculative Industry Supervisory Commission (NGCC) is a committee under the Prime Minister that oversees and manages Korea’s legal gambling industries as a whole. It was launched on September 17, 2007, under the Speculative Industry Integrated Supervisory Commission Act, enacted in January of that year. It is located in the Gwacheon Government Complex in Gyeonggi Province.

Gambling industries such as casinos, horse racing, cycle and motorboat racing, lotteries, and sports promotion betting were originally managed separately by their respective ministries. As the industry grew and gambling addiction worsened, the NGCC was created to coordinate them in one place and reduce side effects. The chair holds minister-level rank, and the commissioners hold vice-minister-level rank.

Industries overseen

Main functions

Sales cap system

The NGCC’s signature system is the sales cap system. It sets an annual revenue ceiling for the gambling industry as a whole and for each sector, and penalizes overruns, for example by reducing the following year’s limit. It also manages how the industries operate, including the number of venues and the adoption of electronic cards. The system aims to prevent reckless expansion and keep the industry at an appropriate size.

2025 gambling industry statistics

According to NGCC’s 2025 statistics, revenue from Korea’s legal gambling industries was KRW 26.03 trillion, up 2.9% from the previous year.

A notable change is the shift online. Online horse racing sales rose 87.6% to KRW 1.37 trillion, and online sports promotion betting sales rose 42.2% to KRW 1.22 trillion. Offline attendance fell, but average spending per bettor rose.

Illegal gambling monitoring

In Korea, all gambling other than the government-licensed industries is illegal. Online casinos and online slots with overseas licenses are also illegal if they target Korean users, and users can be punished as well. In 2025, the NGCC carried out 52,067 monitoring actions against illegal gambling sites, and requests blocking of detected sites through bodies such as the Korea Communications Standards Commission.

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Youth gambling problems

In 2025, gambling counseling for those aged 19 and under reached 5,838 cases, up 40.9%. The gambling most commonly encountered by teens was illegal online gambling (57.7%) and private gambling (18.0%). As youth gambling starts at younger ages and shifts online, the Korea Speculative Industry Supervisory Commission (NGCC) and related agencies are strengthening prevention education.

Gambling addiction prevention

The NGCC requires gambling operators to contribute to an addiction prevention fund and supports counseling and treatment programs together with the Korea Center on Gambling Problems. If you need help with a gambling problem, you can call 1336 with no area code. It is also good to know that gambling such as slots is designed so that players lose over the long run (house edge, expected value), and that the idea that a win is due after a losing streak is an illusion (gambler’s fallacy).