Gambling in North Korea: Law, Sanctions and Casinos

Published by Casino News Daily editorial teamReviewed byFilip RadulovicOur editorial approach

North Korea, officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), has no lawful gambling market open to its own citizens and no regulated online gambling of any kind. Its Criminal Law makes gambling for money or goods an offence punishable by labour sentences. The only casinos reported inside the country are a small number of hotel venues aimed at foreign visitors, chiefly in Pyongyang and in the Rason special economic zone, whose legal basis has never been published. Ordinary citizens have virtually no access to the global internet. Internationally, the country is heavily sanctioned, and United Nations and allied monitoring bodies have documented state-linked cyber theft, including from online gambling platforms. Where information could not be verified, this guide says so.

Key points

In the 2009 version of the DPRK Criminal Law, as translated into English by academic translators, Article 266 provides that a person who gambles, staking money or goods, is punishable by short-term labour of under two years, or reform through labour of under five years in grave cases (Criminal Law, 2009 translation).
No gambling regulator, licensing law or licensed operator could be identified. Online gambling is not authorised in any form.
Casinos serving foreign visitors have been reported in a Pyongyang hotel and in Rason. Their current operating status could not be confirmed, and international tourism remains heavily restricted (RFA, 2024; RFA, 2025).
The UN Panel of Experts reported 58 suspected DPRK cyberattacks on cryptocurrency firms in 2017–2023, worth about US$3 billion. Its mandate ended in April 2024, and an 11-state Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) now reports instead (UN; MSMT).
The FATF keeps the DPRK on its list of high-risk jurisdictions subject to a call for action (June 2026), and US, UK and UN sanctions severely restrict payments and dealings involving the country (FATF, June 2026).

Last reviewed: 14 October 2026.

Historical development

Gambling has no recognised place in the DPRK’s centrally planned economy. Neither a state lottery nor licensed betting could be identified in the sources reviewed. Gambling appears in the legal order chiefly as a criminal offence against what the Criminal Law calls the “order of socialist collective life” (Criminal Law, 2009 translation).

Contemporary reporting compiled by the research blog North Korean Economy Watch describes a large hotel casino in the Rason (Rajin-Sonbong) economic zone in the far north-east, built by a Hong Kong-based investor and opened around 2000. Its customers were mostly visitors from China. It was reportedly closed in about 2004–05 after a Chinese official lost public money there, but The Guardian (2010) and Daily NK (2011) later described it operating again (North Korean Economy Watch, gambling archive). These accounts, which differ on dates, are the main public record. No official DPRK statement on the venue has been found.

A second foreigners-only casino has been reported in a large international hotel in Pyongyang that opened in 1996. Radio Free Asia (RFA) described it in 2024 as one of the country’s two casinos, the other being in Rason (RFA, 26 July 2024).

Legal framework

Checking gambling legislation and licensing

Sources of law and access to texts

The DPRK has no public online legislation portal accessible from abroad. English texts come mainly from academic and non-governmental translations, and the text in force may differ from the versions available outside the country.

The gambling offence in the Criminal Law

The most recent complete English translation located for this review is of the Criminal Law as revised in 2009, prepared by a team of translators that included an academic at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (Criminal Law of the DPRK, 2009). Chapter 8 of that text, on “Criminal Violations of the Order of Socialist Collective Life”, contains the gambling provision:

In that translation the provision is numbered Article 266; the numbering in later versions may differ.

Article 266 (Gambling): “A person, who gambles, staking money or goods, shall be punished by short-term labour for less than two years.”

The same article provides that, where the offence is grave, the penalty is reform through labour for less than five years. The penalties are defined in the general part of the Criminal Law:

Short-term labour (Article 31) means work at a designated place for between six months and two years, during which civil rights are formally retained.
Reform through labour (Article 30) means detention in a labour camp. The fixed-term version lasts from one to 15 years and involves the partial suspension of civil rights.

Later revisions of the Criminal Law may have renumbered or amended this provision. This review did not locate an authoritative English text of a more recent version. The Criminal Law contains no exception for licensed or state-run gambling, and no separate statute regulating casinos, lotteries or betting was identified.

Foreign investment and special economic zones

The reported casinos sit in a special economic zone and an international hotel, where foreign investment laws apply. Those laws, including the tax law discussed below, do not mention casinos, and no published instrument authorising casino operation could be found.

Regulator and licensing model

North Korea follows a prohibition model: gambling is a criminal offence and there is no general licensing regime. No gambling regulator, licensing authority or public register of operators exists so far as could be determined. The arrangements under which the foreigner-only casinos operate are not public.

In July 2024 RFA reported, citing two anonymous residents, that the authorities were considering selling a foreign investor the right to build and run a casino in the unfinished 105-storey Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, in order to attract foreign investment (RFA, 26 July 2024). The plan has not been officially confirmed.

Online gambling and enforcement

Online casino games on mobile devices

No domestic online gambling

There is no lawful online gambling in North Korea, and for most of the population there is no practical access to foreign gambling websites either. According to Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center Internet Monitor, the general population can use only Kwangmyong, a state-run national intranet, meaning a closed domestic network not connected to the global internet. Content on it is filtered and monitored, and access to the global internet is limited to a small number of government elites (Internet Monitor, North Korea profile).

State-linked cyber activity involving gambling platforms

The international relevance of North Korea to online gambling lies elsewhere: in the involvement of DPRK state-linked actors in cyber theft and in building gambling software. The main documented cases are:

Theft from an online casino (2023). The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) attributed the theft of about US$41 million in virtual currency from “an online casino and betting platform”, on or about 4 September 2023, to DPRK-linked cyber actors it identified as the Lazarus Group (also known as APT38) (FBI, September 2023).
Gambling sites built for criminal groups (2024). On 14 February 2024 South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) stated that a DPRK IT company linked to a Workers’ Party bureau had built illegal gambling websites from a base in China and sold them to clients, including South Korean criminal groups. Each site reportedly sold for US$5,000, plus US$3,000 for maintenance. The NIS described this as a breach of UN Security Council Resolution 2397 (2017) (Korea JoongAng Daily, 14 February 2024).
IT workers on gambling platforms. According to an analysis of the MSMT’s report on DPRK IT workers, the report found that such workers, using false identities, had been placed with online gambling platforms, among other sectors (38 North).

United Nations and multilateral monitoring

From 2009 until April 2024 a UN Panel of Experts assisted the Security Council’s 1718 Committee in monitoring sanctions on the DPRK. Its final report (S/2024/215) is dated 7 March 2024 (NCNK list of Panel reports). As reported by NK News, the Panel said it was investigating 58 suspected DPRK cyberattacks on cryptocurrency-related companies between 2017 and 2023, worth about US$3 billion (NK News, 21 March 2024). On 28 March 2024 a draft resolution to extend the Panel’s mandate to 30 April 2025 received 13 votes in favour. It failed because of a vote against by the Russian Federation, a permanent member, with China abstaining (UN press release SC/15648).

In October 2024, 11 states, including the Republic of Korea, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom, set up the MSMT to continue reporting outside the UN framework. Its second report (October 2025), on cyber and IT worker activity, linked UN-designated DPRK entities to cryptocurrency theft, fraudulent IT work and cyber espionage, used to raise “billions of dollars” for weapons programmes (MSMT joint statement, 22 October 2025). The report itself (MSMT/2025/2) states that the DPRK stole at least US$2.8 billion in cryptocurrency between January 2024 and September 2025, and tabulates the total as about US$2.84 billion (MSMT report, 22 October 2025). The MSMT is an initiative of participating states, not a UN body.

Position of players

For North Korean citizens, the position under the Criminal Law text reviewed is clear: gambling for money or goods is itself an offence, and the penalty falls on the person who gambles, not only on an organiser. Independent verification of prosecutions is not possible. In February 2026 RFA reported, citing anonymous residents in two provinces, that card gambling had spread among workers at idle coal mines during winter power shortages, and that a fatal stabbing over a card game led to arrests. It also reported that local authorities ordered enterprises to stamp out gambling and warned of reform-through-labour sentences of five years or more in serious cases (RFA Korean service, 8 February 2026). These accounts could not be independently verified.

For foreign visitors, RFA has described the Pyongyang hotel casino as open to foreigners only; reporting on the Rason venue describes a mainly Chinese clientele. Whether a foreigner gambling in such a venue is formally exempt from the Criminal Law could not be established from any published source. Foreign nationals’ own sanctions laws may also restrict spending or transferring money in or to the DPRK.

Sanctions and payments

Under US Executive Order 13722 (signed 15 March 2016), property of the Government of North Korea and the Workers’ Party of Korea within US jurisdiction is blocked. The order also prohibits the export of “any goods, services, or technology to North Korea” from the United States or by a US person, and any new investment there by a US person (Federal Register). The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) administers the North Korea Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 510) (OFAC, North Korea sanctions). On 4 November 2025 the US Treasury designated eight individuals and two entities for laundering cybercrime and IT worker proceeds. It stated that DPRK-affiliated cybercriminals had stolen over US$3 billion, mainly in cryptocurrency, in the previous three years (US Treasury, 4 November 2025). The United Kingdom applies asset freezes, financial services restrictions and trade measures under the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (legislation.gov.uk).

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global anti-money laundering standard-setter, kept the DPRK on its list of “High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action” after its plenary of 17–19 June 2026. The FATF stated that it “remains concerned by the DPRK’s continued failure to address the significant deficiencies” in its anti-money laundering regime, and urged countries to apply countermeasures, including terminating correspondent relationships with DPRK banks and limiting business relationships with DPRK persons (FATF, 19 June 2026; FATF plenary outcomes).

Taxation

North Korea officially has no taxes on its citizens. On 21 March 1974 the Supreme People’s Assembly adopted a law abolishing taxation, which took effect on 1 April 1974. That date is still marked as the day of the abolition of the tax system. Observers note that various levies and compulsory contributions continue in other forms (NK News, 24 April 2015). Since gambling by citizens is unlawful, there is no tax on gambling winnings.

Foreign-invested businesses are taxed separately. In the 2002 version of the Law on Foreign-Invested Business and Foreign Individual Tax, first adopted on 31 January 1993, the standard enterprise income tax rate is 25% of net profit, reduced to 14% in the Rason zone. Service businesses, including “recreation” facilities, pay a business tax of between 2% and 10% (WIPO Lex). Whether these rules apply to casino operators could not be verified, and no gambling tax was identified.

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

No national self-exclusion scheme, gambling helpline, treatment service or consumer-protection framework for gambling could be identified in North Korea. The state’s response to gambling, as described in the law and in reporting, is punitive. More broadly, a September 2025 report by the UN human rights office (OHCHR) described increased surveillance, censorship and forced labour over the previous decade, according to Human Rights Watch’s summary (Human Rights Watch, World Report 2026). General information on recognising and managing gambling harm is available in our responsible gambling guide.

Recent and upcoming developments

March–April 2024: end of the UN Panel. The Panel’s final report was dated 7 March 2024. Its mandate lapsed at the end of April 2024 after the Russian veto on 28 March 2024 (UN).
July 2024: Ryugyong casino proposal. RFA reported, from anonymous sources, a plan to offer foreign investors casino rights in the Ryugyong Hotel. This has not been confirmed (RFA).
February–March 2025: Rason tourism. Rason was opened to foreign tour groups in mid-February 2025 (since September 2023 only Russian groups had been admitted), but tours were paused in early March 2025 without explanation, according to two travel agencies cited by RFA (RFA, 5 March 2025). The status of the Rason casino after this period could not be confirmed.
October–November 2025: MSMT report and US designations. The MSMT published its cyber and IT worker report, and the US Treasury designated DPRK bankers and institutions involved in laundering (MSMT; US Treasury).
June 2026: FATF. The DPRK remained on the FATF call-for-action list (FATF).

No legislative move towards legalising or regulating gambling for citizens has been reported.

Related country guides

Sources and further reading

S. Lee, H. S. Park, K. E. Ha, M. Simpson Bell, L. Lee and A. Wolman (trans.), The Criminal Law of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (2009) (2009 text; accessed 14 October 2026).
United Nations, Meetings Coverage and Press Releases, Security Council Fails to Extend Mandate for Expert Panel (SC/15648) (28 March 2024).
National Committee on North Korea, UN Panel of Experts reports (accessed 14 October 2026).
Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (via Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan), The DPRK’s Violation and Evasion of UN Sanctions through Cyber and Information Technology Worker Activities (MSMT/2025/2) (22 October 2025).
Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team participating states (via GOV.UK), Joint Statement of the MSMT on the Report Covering DPRK Cyber and IT Worker Activities (22 October 2025).
US Department of the Treasury, Treasury Sanctions DPRK Bankers and Institutions Involved in Laundering Cybercrime Proceeds and IT Worker Funds (4 November 2025).
US Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, North Korea Sanctions (accessed 14 October 2026).
Federal Register, Executive Order 13722: Blocking Property of the Government of North Korea and the Workers’ Party of Korea, and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to North Korea (2016).
Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI attribution of the theft of US$41 million in virtual currency from an online casino and betting platform to the Lazarus Group (September 2023).
legislation.gov.uk, The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/411) (2019).
Financial Action Task Force, High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action – 19 June 2026 (19 June 2026).
Financial Action Task Force, Outcomes FATF Plenary, June 2026 (2026).
World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO Lex, Law of the DPRK on Foreign-Invested Business and Foreign Individual Tax (as amended 2002) (accessed 14 October 2026).
Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, Internet Monitor, North Korea country profile (accessed 14 October 2026).
Human Rights Watch (via ecoi.net), World Report 2026: North Korea (4 February 2026).
Radio Free Asia, North Korea to sell gambling rights at vacant 105-floor Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang (26 July 2024).
Radio Free Asia, North Korea suspends foreign tours less than a month after resumption (5 March 2025).
Radio Free Asia Korean service, 북 가동 중단 탄광 노동자들 도박에 빠져 [Workers at idle North Korean coal mines fall into gambling] (in Korean) (8 February 2026).
Korea JoongAng Daily, North Korean tech workers, South Korean gangsters team up on illegal online gambling (14 February 2024).
NK News, North Korea relies on crypto theft for up to half of foreign income: UN report (21 March 2024).
38 North, Assessing the MSMT’s DPRK IT Worker Threat Report (December 2025).
NK News, Read my lips: Don’t believe North Korea’s ‘no taxes’ talk (24 April 2015).
North Korean Economy Watch, Archive: Gambling (compiling reports from The Guardian, Daily NK, Yonhap and others, 2010–2012) (accessed 14 October 2026).

Offshore casinos accepting players from North Korea

The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. No online gambling operator is licensed in North Korea, gambling for money or goods is a criminal offence under the DPRK Criminal Law, and there is no regulator or register against which a licence could be checked. The listings must not be read as an indication that playing is lawful in or from North Korea. International sanctions administered by the United Nations, the United States (OFAC), the United Kingdom and others restrict payments and dealings involving the country.