South Korea Orders Nationwide Polymarket Block
South Korea's Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) has voted to permanently block domestic access to Polymarket, the blockchain-based prediction market platform, after ruling it provides South Korean users with what the regulator called a de facto illegal gambling environment.
The commission's telecommunications review subcommittee issued the access-blocking order on August 18, 2026.
The KCSC said Polymarket meets the definition of information that facilitates gambling or provides a venue for gambling under the Criminal Act, as well as activity resembling betting sites under the National Sports Promotion Act.
Regulator Rejects Polymarket's Technical Defence
Polymarket had argued during a July 6, 2026 hearing that it had removed its Korean-language service and did not accept payments in Korean won, and that its non-custodial, peer-to-peer, smart-contract structure meant it did not qualify as a "host" or operator under South Korean information and communications law.
The KCSC rejected that defence outright. "The platform cannot evade the application of domestic law on the grounds of technical characteristics or service methods, such as whether Korean-language service is provided, or decentralised or centralised technologies such as trading interfaces and order books," the commission said, according to South Korean outlet the Korea JoongAng Daily.
It added that blocking access "is unavoidable to protect domestic users, given that the platform is providing a de facto illegal gambling environment to users in South Korea."
The commission also pointed to Polymarket's winner-take-all payout structure on events users cannot control, and to markets targeting South Korea-specific outcomes such as August rainfall in Seoul, as evidence the platform actively courts domestic bettors.
Part Of A Wider Global Crackdown
South Korea joins a growing list of jurisdictions that have moved against Polymarket, including France, Germany and Australia, each of which cited unlicensed gambling or betting concerns in blocking access over the past two years.
Gangwon provincial police in South Korea separately launched a criminal investigation in early June into local users accused of placing bets on regional elections through the platform.
The order will require South Korean internet service providers to block access to Polymarket, following the same enforcement mechanism the KCSC uses against other unlicensed online gambling operators.
For an industry increasingly focused on how prediction markets intersect with regulated betting sites, South Korea's decision marks one of the most emphatic regulatory rejections of the format to date.
