Hana Financial stumps up $7.3m to prevent youth gambling addiction

South Korean financial holding company, Hana Financial Group, has announced a $7.3m grant that will be used to prevent youth gambling addiction. The project is two-pronged, with the money going into preventing youths from accessing illegal forms of gambling as well as offering young people support in recovering from gambling addiction.

New program set to tackle youth problem gambling in South Korea

The project is launched for a period of three years and it will work closely with the Korea Problem Gambling Agency, launching a number of campaigns intended at youths and teenagers.

Hana Financial Group’s initiative will launch a number of campaigns that will seek to raise awareness among the target group for the pitfalls of gambling, and how problem gambling can hurt a person’s financial and mental well-being. Hana’s Chairman Ham Young-joo has welcomed the opportunity to see his company launch this new initiative:

"A comprehensive approach to preventive measures and treatment is essential to protect the youth from illegal gambling. Hana will take the lead in building social safety networks to prevent the youth from being addicted to gambling through various programs targeted at teenagers."

The project will work with 1,000 experts who are already working on the ground to prevent youth gambling. The goal right now is for the project to help young people directly through thousands of consultations. The target for the next three years has been set at 24,000, Hana Financial Group said.

Youth gambling addiction inches up over the year.

To help reach the South Korean youths, the group has teamed up with Lee Sang-hyeok, a League of Legends esports player known globally to his millions of fans as "Faker." He is also very popular with youths in South Korea who have a strong cultural affinity for playing video games – both recreationally and competitively.

Pinpointing the exact numbers of the problem has proven elusive. By one estimate, 5.6% of young people aged 19-24 are at risk for gambling addiction. In 2022, 791 individuals in their 20s sought help for gambling addiction. According to local media sources, 82 of those applying for help were teenagers.

Earlier this year, the South Korea National Police Agency arrested 171 teenagers no older than 19, who the authorities suspected had participated in illegal gambling. Hana Financial Group’s new campaign is set to address what has been flagged as a growing problem in South Korean society.

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