Korea’s poppamine craze fuels vending machine boom
South Koreans are spending billions on toy vending machines that dispense plastic capsules with collectible items for roughly $3.50 to $7 per turn. The gacha market grew from $7 million in 2022 to $35 million last year as malls and convenience stores installed thousands of machines nationwide.
Women in their teens and twenties drive most sales at locations like I’Park Mall, where nearly 1,000 machines generated $1.4 million in September alone. Retailers favor the games because they need minimal staff and transform unused spaces into revenue sources.
Lawmakers raised concerns on Monday that claw machines and similar games resemble gambling through probability manipulation. A National Assembly member told regulators the devices use engineered weaknesses to encourage repeated spending rather than provide simple entertainment.
The National Gambling Control Commission chair acknowledged the games contain gambling elements and said officials are reviewing oversight measures. Arcades received 987 new licenses between January and August, more than double the total for the same period the previous year.
