Summary
- Access to prediction-market platform Polymarket’s website in South Korea has been fully blocked, with an HTTP 451 error displayed.
- The Korea Communications Standards Commission voted to block access after determining Polymarket contained information related to illegal gambling.
- The commission said Polymarket constituted information that aids gambling, opens a gambling venue under the criminal code, and supports similar acts under the National Sports Promotion Act.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
Polymarket’s website has been blocked in South Korea.
As of Aug. 20, Polymarket’s official website displayed an “HTTP 451” error page saying the site was unavailable for legal reasons. The notice stated that access to the website, served through Cloudflare servers located in South Korea, had been restricted under a legal order from the South Korean government.
The move appears to stem from a decision by the Korea Communications Standards Commission to classify Polymarket as information related to illegal gambling and block access to the site.
On Aug. 18, the commission’s Communications Review Subcommittee voted to issue a corrective order requiring access to Polymarket to be blocked. The commission said Polymarket constituted information that aids gambling or is intended to open a gambling venue under the criminal code, as well as information intended for similar acts under the National Sports Promotion Act.
The block appears to have taken effect two days after that decision.
Suehyeon Lee
shlee@bloomingbit.ioI'm reporter Suehyeon Lee, your Web3 Moderator.