Illegal online sports betting in South Korea worth us$ 10 billion

The institute's report was submitted to Ahn Kyung-yul, a representative of the ruling Grand National Party, for the annual parliamentary audit. In total, the market for illegal online betting on sports could be between us$ 10.1 billion and us$ 10.8 billion, the report claimed.

In legalized sports gambling here, bettors may only wager up to us$ 85,070 per game through a state-run lottery called Sports Toto. Only selected sports, such as baseball and basketball, are legal for gambling, with punters betting on the final results or final scores of games.

Illegal Web sites have no such restrictions and have attracted bettors seeking to hit a jackpot, the report said. Ahn blamed lenient penalties for the spread of illegal gambling sites.

"Currently, those who start illegal Web sites are sentenced to up to three years in jail or receive up to  us$ 12.760 in fines," Ahn said. "There should be tougher discipline and the prison term and the fine should be imposed together. To raise awareness and discourage people from using such sites, there should also be a penalty on bettors."

Illegal sports betting came under the spotlight in South Korea this year, with several former and active players of K-League, the first-division football competition, implicated in a massive match fixing scandal.

Earlier Friday, 10 of 37 indicted football players and gambling brokers received prison terms ranging from one to five years. The remaining 27 players were ordered to pay fines equaling the amount of bribes they'd taken from brokers to throw games.