South Korea's prime minister apologized yesterday for allowing video gambling arcades to spread in a country where gaming is mostly illegal.
The government has come under fire for its lax regulation of the gaming industry, amid allegations that a large video arcade chain has been breaking the law.
Last week, Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook ordered the closure of thousands of video game parlors suspected of illegal gambling and prosecutors began an investigation.
"I would like to offer my sincere apologies for the serious damage to the livelihood of low-income earners by the nationwide spread of speculative gaming," Han said before a Cabinet meeting yesterday.
She said the government might not have effectively managed its regulatory responsibility in granting licences to arcade operators.
Prosecutors said they are investigating video arcade operators featuring a game called Sea Story on suspicion it was an illegal video slot machine.
Prosecutors are also investigating whether arcade operators might have bribed public officials to approve licences.
Arcades featuring Sea Story, a video slot machine game with nautical themes, are suspected of trying to skirt South Korean laws by raising the payouts from their machines beyond legal limits, prosecutors said.
After several arcade operators allegedly altered payouts, the game grew in South Korea. Arcades featuring the game have mushroomed around the country since starting two years ago.
All a player has to do is insert cash and watch sharks, whales and other sea creatures spin and stop on the video screen.
Reports of the video game scandal have dominated South Korea's media coverage over the past two weeks, in part because of the size of the industry and the possibility of corruption.
"Who made this country into a republic of gambling?" the mainstream JoongAng Ilbo daily asked in an editorial last week.
Out of the country's 17 legal casinos, only one allows South Koreans to gamble. Video arcade games are allowed but must not pay out over a licenced limit.
Arcades can give out gift certificates that can be exchanged for merchandise for people who play video slot and poker machines.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
RSS