BJ Cheolgu confesses to overseas gambling, W5b in illegal loans — lawyer warns prison may be safer

Internet broadcaster BJ Cheolgu has confessed to gambling overseas in the Philippines and taking out illegal loans, saying he will turn himself in to police — drawing wide attention to the circumstances behind his announcement.

In an early-morning live broadcast Tuesday on the streaming platform Soop, Cheolgu said he had been gambling in the Philippines since 2024 and that he would walk into a police station Wednesday morning to surrender and accept appropriate punishment.

He said he had spent more than 1 billion won ($682,000) on gambling in a single week, and that as his situation became unmanageable, he borrowed money from a high-rolling sponsor at 10 percent interest per week.

He added that a value-added tax bill of about 6 billion won was levied in November 2025 and his accounts were seized. To block the seizure, he borrowed 2.3 billion won from fellow broadcaster BJ K and 2 billion won from Jjabgu, repaying some of the debt. He said the illegal loans still outstanding, excluding taxes, amount to about 5 billion won.

"It is all true — the illegal overseas gambling and the illegal loans," he said, apologizing. "Even if I end up serving prison time, I will repay the debt to the end. I am truly sorry."

Following the broadcast, legal experts weighed in on whether Cheolgu is actually obligated to repay the loans. Jo Gi-hyeon, an attorney at law firm Daehan Jungang, said in a YouTube video that if the lender knew the money would be used for gambling, the loan would constitute an antisocial legal act under Article 103 of the Civil Act and an illegal-cause payment under Article 746, meaning Cheolgu would not be legally required to repay it.

Jo said Korean law prohibits lending money for gambling purposes, and that a court ordering repayment of a gambling debt would effectively amount to the law encouraging gambling. On the possibility of personal rehabilitation or bankruptcy proceedings, he added that if it emerged during the review process that the debt stemmed from gambling, Cheolgu would be disqualified.

However, the illegal nature of the loans also raises the possibility of physical threats. Jo warned that lenders in such cases often resort to means beyond the law, and that unlawful exposure of personal information or aggressive debt collection could follow.

"Confessing on air to using illegal loans may have been digging his own grave," Jo said. "If the lenders suffer losses as a result of a police investigation or a National Tax Service probe, they may try to extract more than the original amount lent. Being in prison might actually be safer."

Jo said the broadcasters who lent Cheolgu money are also likely to face punishment as accomplices. "If the 6 billion won VAT bill arose not from real transactions but from fictitious ones created as gambling funds moved around, that would be a violation of the Punishment of Tax Evaders Act," he said. "Not only Cheolgu, but anyone who lent money knowing it was for gambling could be punished for aiding and abetting." He added that Jjabgu and K face a considerable likelihood of punishment following a police investigation, a National Tax Service probe and a court ruling.

On the question of Cheolgu's ultimate sentence, Jo leaned toward actual prison time. "There is a strong chance he will receive an unsuspended prison sentence," he said. "If all charges — gambling and violations of the Punishment of Tax Evaders Act — are tried together, a sentence of up to three years is possible."