South Korea has blocked access to Polymarket after regulators concluded that the prediction market platform amounts to illegal gambling under domestic law, ending a dispute that had been developing since early July.
The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) moved to restrict the platform after giving Polymarket an opportunity to explain why its services should not be treated as unlawful gambling. Polymarket argued that its blockchain-based structure, non-custodial transactions and smart-contract settlement model distinguish it from conventional betting operators.
The company had also taken steps to reduce its exposure in the country. By late July, Korean-language support had been removed from the platform, while South Korea-focused prediction markets became harder for domestic users to find. Polymarket also does not process transactions in South Korean won.
Those measures failed to satisfy the regulator. South Korean authorities determined that the technical structure of the platform does not remove it from the scope of national gambling laws. Regulators were particularly concerned about contracts focused on domestic events, including South Korean politics, economic indicators, sport and even weather-related outcomes.
The KCSC concluded that Polymarket gives users in South Korea practical access to speculative contracts with binary profit-and-loss outcomes and therefore justified an access block as a consumer-protection measure.
The decision adds South Korea to a growing group of jurisdictions taking action against prediction markets. France ordered internet service providers to block Polymarket in July 2026 after its gambling regulator said the platform was promoting an unauthorised gambling service. Polymarket later said it intended to challenge the French action through the courts. Spain had also temporarily restricted Polymarket and Kalshi earlier in the year.
Polymarket itself maintains geographic restrictions in numerous countries and regions to comply with regulatory requirements, gambling legislation, financial rules and sanctions. Its published restrictions currently include markets such as Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore and the UK.
The South Korean action highlights the continuing divide over how prediction markets should be classified. While platforms such as Polymarket present event contracts as a distinct form of trading, regulators in a growing number of jurisdictions are applying gambling laws when users risk money on uncertain real-world outcomes.