South Korea's Media and Communications Standards Commission approved a block on Polymarket on Tuesday. The regulator found that the platform hosts information facilitating gambling activity, violating the country's Criminal Code and the National Sports Promotion Act.
Polymarket allows users to trade outcomes of political, economic and sporting events using cryptocurrency. Markets on the platform cover elections, interest-rate decisions, international conflicts and weather conditions. The Korean regulator said the winner-takes-all model incentivises gambling because users' financial results depend on events outside their control.
The commission also pointed to the operator's role in creating markets, setting trading rules and providing deposit, withdrawal and settlement systems in digital assets. The platform earns revenue through transaction fees, creating an environment for collecting and distributing user funds.
Polymarket objected, citing removal of its Korean-language version and the absence of won payment support. The company also pointed to its peer-to-peer structure without custody of assets and the use of blockchain contracts, arguing it does not manage user funds directly. The regulator rejected the arguments, stating that companies cannot evade local law based on language, technical features or decentralised service design. As an example of content targeting Korean users, the commission cited a market on rainfall in Seoul in August.
Before making the decision, the regulator consulted the National Police Agency, the Game Rating and Administration Committee and the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation. The agencies confirmed that Polymarket's activity may fall under local gambling law. Singapore has already blocked access to the platform, while reviews are under way in the US and Japan.
