Lee Kwang-ja, director of the Korea Center on Gambling Problems.

 (photo: courtesy of the Korea Center on Gambling Problems)

The Korea Center on Gambling Problems was established in August 2013 in order to prevent, cure, and rehabilitate those who suffer from problem gambling, whether they gambled at legal gambling institutions or participated in illegal gambling. The prevalence of problem gambling is 7.2 percent (Approximately 2.65 million people above age 20) in Korea, two to three times higher than other countries. 

Lee Kwang-ja, director of the Korea Center on Gambling Problems, said, “Horseracing and other competition industries are on the decline and growth in casino table games is seen to be slowing, whereas game machines and online gambling industries are surging in size, indicating signs of a realignment of sales among gambling industries.”

Korean and foreign global acclaimed experts will participate in the International Forum for Responsible Gambling 2014, to be held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Building in Seoul on May 12. The forum will be organized and hosted by the National Gambling Control Commission and the Korea Center on Gambling Problems. Among the speakers of the forum are Dr. Randy Stinchfield, clinical psychologist at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Andre Wisenach, executive director at Alderney Gambling Control Commission in Alderney, Channel Islands, and Prof. Shane Thomas at Monash University, Australia.

“Participants of the forum will likely share information about nations’ legal and illegal gambling industries and discuss ways to effectively cope with changes in the business environment of the gambling industries. Korean and foreign experts are expected to share cases of advanced countries related to gambling industries and the latest research outcomes and discuss ways of promoting responsible gambling and explore solutions to gambling problems,” she said.

Director Lee is a seasoned veteran in the field of prevention, cure, and rehabilitation of those suffering from gambling problems. She has been with Lifeline International since 1976. Lee served as president of the Lifeline International Korea Office and as a vice president of the Korean Association for Suicide Prevention before being appointed director of the center. Lee, a doctor in psychiatric mental health nursing, taught at Ewha Womans University. 

The following are excerpts of an interview between NewsWorld and Director Lee of the Korea Center on Gambling Problems in which she spoke of the purpose of her center’s establishment, its missions, and the current status of the nation’s gambling problems and global trends. 

Question: What is the purpose of holding of the International Forum for Responsible Gambling 2014?

Answer: Demand for the implementation of new policies and international cooperation are mounting in the wake of social and economic shifts in gambling industries. Horseracing and other competition industries are on the decline and growth in casino table games is seen to be slowing, whereas game machines and online gambling industries are surging in size, indicating a realignment of sales among gambling industries. 

The global gambling industry, which surpassed $400 billion in sales in 2011, is on the rise. Countries are expected to scramble to make a shift from the control-oriented paradigm toward the industry to programmatic policies, such as the expanding of the casino industries to tide over the economic recession. All nations should come up with steps to cope with the spread of illegal online gambling practices, which are not limited to individual countries, but to all parts of the globe and across borders in the wake of the advancement of online technology. 

Organizing the International Forum for Responsible Gambling 2014 is not only a way to overcome a stark reality facing the nation -- insufficient research on comprehensive policies related to the gambling industries -- but also to serve as a cost-saving opportunity to take a look into international trends and discuss the direction of future policy courses. It is more effective to invite globally acclaimed experts and help scores of Korean experts, working-level officials, and related institutions to promote contacts and information exchanges with each other, rather than the limited outcomes that dispatching a few people abroad could bring about.   

Participants of the forum will likely share information about nations’ legal and illegal gambling industries and discuss ways to effectively cope with changes in the business environment of the gambling industries. Korean and foreign experts are expected to share cases of advanced countries related to gambling industries and the latest research outcomes and discuss ways of promoting responsible gambling and explore solutions to gambling problems. The upcoming forum will also serve as a starting point for exchanging and communicating among Korean experts and academicians on a regular basis with the goal of facilitating policy research into gambling industries and grasping their industry trends, sharing information, and forming human networks. 

Q: Will you comment on your views on juvenile problem gambling of juvenile in the wake of the rising illegal gambling industries?

A: Children and youth have no access to legal gambling businesses, but the problem is that they are vulnerable to online gambling, which has no limitations to access. 

A majority of the interviewees being referred to the center these days are high school students. An increasing number of families turn to the center to hold consultations on their kids’ problem gambling

Upon receiving consultation requests, we first hold counseling sessions with individuals and families, then conduct an educational program for families on grasping the problem gambling and how to cope with it through meetings. Then we enter a case management stage by establishing plans to cure and rehabilitate gambling addicts.

Unlike adult gambling, parents are to be held responsible with the imposing of fines for their children’s illegal gambling.

Q: Will you elaborate on the purpose of your center’s establishment and its responsibilities?

A: Our center, established in accordance with the National Gambling Control Commission Act, is an institution specializing in preventing and curing minimizing gambling harm and offering rehabilitation services.

Our center’s major responsibilities include the development and spread of counseling, education, and public relations, and other related programs designed to ensure prevention and cure of problem gambling; survey, research, analysis, and evaluation; the nurturing of manpower specializing in prevention and treatment of problem gambling; promoting linkages and collaboration with specialized medical institutions; and providing support to projects to prevent, cure, and rehabilitate problem gambling.

We’re devoting ourselves to preventing gambling problems, posing as a growing social woe, and keeping the public informed of how to prevent it as well as providing cure and rehabilitation services. 

Our center’s ultimate mission is to minimize the harm caused by problem gambling and to protect the gambling industry’s users. 

We’re committed to giving a light of hope to people who suffer from problem gambling and their families, freeing them from the shackles of frustration coming from gambling problems. 

Q: Will you touch on major projects your center will implement during 2014?

A: We have five regional centers specializing in prevention, cure, and rehabilitation services in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, Gangwon-do, Kwangju, and Busan. Twenty five civilian counseling institutions across the nation are commissioned to provide services for curing problem gambling. 

24hrs help lines were inaugurated last November to offer telephone counseling services around the clock. The telephone line for Light of Hope Counseling at 1336 made its debut on March 31. 

A publicly-contested project to cure and rehabilitate problem gambling and a plan to build a problem gambling cure center are underway. Six additional regional centers will be opened by 2016 to provide conveniences to problem gamblers and their families. Each regional center’s activities to prevent problem gambling and enhance public awareness toward the harmful effects of problem gambling will be expanded to cover every part of the nation.

Problem gambling prevention and PR activities are divided into a program targeting schools and organizations; an on-the-job-training program targeting teachers of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education; a program supporting teams for problem gambling prevention among college students; cultural events marking the Gambling Disorder Abolishment Day and Gambling Disorder Prevention Week; the production and release of newsletters; and a public contest on problem gambling prevention and PR campaigns via news media. 

Besides counseling manpower, we’re going to nurture lecturers on preventing of problem gambling. Our center also plans to develop policies designed to prevent problem gambling and carry out research on services for those suffering from problem gambling and other problems.  

Q: Will you speak of programs to cure and rehabilitate problem gamblers and their families and your center’s future plans?

A: Our center is now concentrating on preventing and curing gambling addicts at the initial stage. We plan to aggressively offer a helping hand to problem gamblers so that they can return home and to work by providing diverse rehabilitation services, including psycho-socio-spiritual and on-the-job rehabilitation services. 

Our center’s goal in the rehabilitation sector is to help gambling addicts successfully stand on their own two feet in an environment they choose while receiving professional guidance. 

Five regional centers, including the ones in Seoul, Busan, and Gangwon-do, conduct juvenile problem gambling prevention activities and provide counseling services on the prevention of problem gambling and educational programs for parents. 

We’re devoting ourselves to expanding our efforts to cure and rehabilitate problem gamblers by building systems to connect the curing and rehabilitating of gambling addicts, establishing and operating regional centers, and operating help lines for gambling addicts. Our center plans to do its utmost to establish itself as a top-rated institution specializing in gambling problems by nurturing manpower specializing in gambling problems, conducting surveys, building collaboration networks, conducting research on gambling problems, and developing on-line and off-line content.