Across the country, 15,000 of these casinos-in-disguise have sprung up in recent years, even in small shops in remote towns. By claiming to be PC-game arcades, and in some cases paying off the right officials, they can obtain legitimate business licenses. These enterprises now hold as many as 1 million game machines that work essentially as slot machines: they take cash, and return jackpots in the form of gift certificates. The certificates are for movies, concerts, CDs or books, but because they are now so common, they are as good as cash on the black market. In the past year, the industry has issued 6 billion gift certificates, worth an astonishing $30 billion.
The government belatedly began cracking down in September. A team of nearly 100 prosecutors and investigators was formed to probe allegations that machine makers, operators and certificate issuers had used bribes to buy off regulators. Three businessmen have so far been arrested, and at least six government officials were banned from overseas travel. President Roh Moo Hyun apologized to the nation for allowing the situation to reach this point. In Seoul, critics now call South Korea “The Republic of Gambling.”
