KOREAN ONLINE GAMBLING CONTINUES TO GROW
The number of online gambling sites, which target Koreans but operate their servers overseas in order to avoid the grip of domestic laws, is on the increase at a breakneck pace. Officials at the Korea Internet Safety Commission told reporters that the body had asked the country’s Internet service providers to block access to 549 foreign-based Korean-language gambling sites in March alone. 
The figure stood at merely 96 in December 2004 but doubled every year to 170 in December 2005 and 342 last December. This year, the number was 395 in January and 493 in February. Some online site operators attempted to sidestep the clampdown by transferring servers to foreign countries such as the United States or Canada, where the arm of Korean law cannot reach.