Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin, front row center, poses with government officials and students during an event commemorating the 3rd Underage Gambling Prevention Week at Ttukseom Hangang Park in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Paradise Group
Amid a rising tide of digital addiction reaching Korean classrooms, one of the nation’s largest integrated resort operators is shifting its corporate social responsibility effort toward the very vice it professionally manages.
The Paradise Group recently held the third annual Underage Gambling Prevention Week, held at Ttukseom Hangang Park in eastern Seoul, the company said Wednesday. The event, themed “Stop Gambling! That’s How You Win,” drew roughly 2,000 students, parents and educators to the riverside on Thursday. Organized by the National Gambling Control Commission and the Ministry of Education, the initiative seeks to build a cultural firewall against a crisis that experts say is increasingly fueled by the ubiquity of smartphones and clandestine social media platforms.
While Paradise Group is best known for its luxury hotels and foreigner-only casinos, its participation in the anti-gambling campaign marks a strategic move within its environmental, social and governance framework. Aside from financial support, which included tickets to the company’s Spa Dogo facility, employees distributed educational materials on the psychological toll of early-onset addiction.
The stakes for the younger population are particularly high in Korea, where the pressure for academic excellence often collides with the dopamine-driven lure of illegal online betting sites. Critics and health officials have warned that adolescent gambling frequently serves as a gateway to impulse control disorders and the erosion of interpersonal relationships.
"Underage gambling is not merely an act of individual delinquency. It is a challenge that society must address and prevent collectively," a Paradise Group representative said.
The partnership is part of a formal agreement signed last year between Paradise and the Korea Center on Gambling Problems. By aligning with government-led prevention weeks, the company aims to minimize the social costs of gambling while promoting healthy leisure over high-stakes risks. The initiative reflects a broader trend among Korean conglomerates to tackle domestic social issues as a prerequisite for maintaining public trust.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
Source: Korea Times News
