Polymarket South Korea risk grew after regulators asked the prediction market platform to answer gambling concerns.
Prediction market giant Polymarket could face access restrictions in South Korea after the country’s media review regulator gave the prediction-market platform a chance to answer gambling concerns.
According to a Digital Today report, the South Korean regulator of media contents, Broadcasting, Media, and Communication Review Commission, voted on Monday, July 6, to allow Polymarket to give its position before deciding on issuing a corrective notice to the company.
The decision came from the regulator’s Communications Review Subcommittee, which plans to hear from the operator before making a final decision. The regulator made it clear that the decision was made to enable a complete review of the legality of Polymarket as a company.
Polymarket South Korea Scrutiny Was Already Building
As of press time, Polymarket isn’t blocked in South Korea, but the process has moved beyond a basic complaint review and into a formal step that could lead to restrictions.
That payoff structure is the core regulatory issue in South Korea. Local criticism has centered on whether Polymarket is functionally closer to gambling than to a financial market, even though the platform frames its markets as tradable forecasts.
In May, South Korea’s comms regulator had already begun examining whether Polymarket could be treated as an illegal gambling site under domestic law. And the review reportedly looked at the platform’s operating model, overseas regulatory responses and whether the product could encourage speculative gambling.
The issue is that Polymarket already hosts country-specific markets tied to South Korea. For instance, its own South Korea page lists markets on political, macro and cultural outcomes, including Yoon Suk Yeol, Lee Jae-myung, Bank of Korea rate decisions, USD/KRW levels and K-pop releases.
Read more: US Becomes Largest Market for Political Bets on Polymarket — How Americans Bypass the Block
