Several Korean stars have been questioned for illegal gambling

Five entertainers are being questioned over illegal online gambling.

They are Tony An, a former member of the now-defunct legendary boy band, H.O.T.; top comedian Lee Soo-geun; Andy, a member of boy band Shinhwa; and TV personalities Tak Jae-hoon and Lee Min-ho, better known by his stage name Boom.

They are suspected of gambling hundreds of millions of won on illegal betting sites on English Premier League football games.

The Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office said Lee Soo-geun admitted to gambling and decided to leave the popular KBS TV reality show “One Night, Two Days.”

“Lee said that he will take some time to reflect,” said KBS in a statement.

Boom also said that he will step down from all programs that he stars in to take responsibility.

Management agencies representing An and Tak were not available for comment.

Up to five more celebrities are under investigation.

“Sports Toto” is the only legal sport betting site, operated under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The upper betting limit is set at 100,000 won per game. Illegal sites have no such limits.

In June, famous comedian Kim Yong-man was sentenced to a suspended eight-month prison term and ordered to do 120 hours of community service.

Kim bet over 1 billion won on foreign online gambling sites.

The veteran comedian and TV show host dropped all his work commitments since then.

Yoon Ae-sook, a counselor at the Seoul Gambling Addiction Prevention and Treatment Center, said that more and more people are becoming addicted to Internet gambling

“As people can access the sites easily, the number of people who are exposed to them is rising. Some lose billions of won on the sites,” said Yoon.

Yoon noted that gambling is a kind of disease that anybody can be trapped in.

“No one is immune from gambling. If a person earns money gambling, they spend more money to win more, while when they lose, they try to recover their losses.”

According to the center, about 2.6 million Koreans, or 7.2 percent of the adult population, have a gambling problem. Considering their family members, some 14 million people are suffering from the side-effects.