China calls for joint cooperation to fight cross-border gambling after meeting with Korean police chief

China’s Minister of Public Security met with the head of the South Korean Police Department on Thursday, stating afterwards that cooperation between the two nations in the fight against cross-border gambling should be strengthened.

According to mainland media outlet People’s Daily, the meeting between Minister Wang Xiaohong and South Korean police chief Yoon Hee-keun took place in Beijing, with Wang pointing out that China is willing to work with Korea to uphold the concepts of cooperation, innovation and rule of law to create a “win-win” situation.

Korea is home to 18 casinos including 17 open exclusively to foreign passport holders.

The goal, Wang reportedly said, is to “Strengthen the construction of a law enforcement security cooperation mechanism, strengthen cooperation in combating cross-border gambling, [enhance] joint efforts to combat telecommunication network fraud, drugs, financial and other areas of crime, deepen the cooperation in law enforcement capacity, improve the level of cooperation in law enforcement and security, and vigorously maintain the security and stability of the two countries.”

Yoon said Korea is willing to strengthen law enforcement and security cooperation with Chinese and jointly enhance law enforcement capabilities.

The reference to cross-border gambling comes after the Chinese Embassy in Korea posted a message on its WeChat public website in February calling on Chinese citizens to avoid gambling while visiting Korea. The messaged emphasized that “gambling is strictly prohibited under the laws of our country, and the amendment to the Criminal Law has formally criminalized cross-border gambling so as to rigorously combat cross-border illegal and criminal activities in the area of gambling.”

The Chinese Embassies in Singapore and the Philippines have released similar messages this year.

China has in recent years been stepping up its efforts to combat cross-border gambling, with the law enforcement agencies of China and the Philippines earlier this week cooperating to repatriate more than 160 Chinese nationals who had been engaged in offshore betting in the Philippines.