"With These, You Can Live Comfortably"... Inside "Stamp Gambling" That Got 'Valley Murder' Convict Lee Eunhae Punished

More than 1,000 inmates caught gambling with stamps at correctional facilities over four years
Stamps traded for laundry and dishwashing, and even converted into cash

Lee Eunhae, who is serving a life sentence after being convicted in the so-called "Gapyeong Valley Murder Case," was reportedly caught gambling at a correctional facility with money from selling stamps and was punished.

On Oct. 8, KBS reported that Lee was punished with nine days of confinement in a disciplinary cell last year for "gambling through stamp trading." Confinement in a disciplinary cell is one of the punishments imposed on inmates at correctional facilities. It involves holding an inmate in a separate disciplinary cell for a set period and restricting communal living and activities. Lee was reportedly caught gambling with other inmates using stamps and cards made by cutting up sheets of A4 paper.

Yonhap News Agency

The incident has also drawn attention to the prevalence of so-called "stamp gambling" inside correctional facilities. Reports have revealed that stamps are used much like cash in prisons and jails, and are abused as a means of gambling and trading among inmates. More than 1,000 inmates nationwide were reportedly caught gambling with stamps at correctional facilities over the past four years. Inmates reportedly cut up large envelopes to make hwatu cards or fashioned cards out of paper, then gambled with stamps as stakes. Registered-mail stamps worth 3,830 won each, among others, were used as wagers.

The amounts involved were also substantial. Some inmates reportedly wagered stamps worth 250,000 won in a single day, and there were also cases in which inmates lost stamps worth 1 million won through gambling. Stamp gambling was not limited to hwatu and card games. Inmates also wagered stamps on the outcomes of omok or baduk games, or by predicting the results of sporting events.

Stamps were also used much like currency among inmates, beyond gambling. Some inmates reportedly gave stamps to other inmates in exchange for having them do chores such as laundry or dishwashing. There have also been reports of stamps being converted into cash through so-called "prisoner service agencies," which handle various tasks for inmates outside correctional facilities.

Some agencies reportedly deducted about 30% of the stamps' face value as a fee, converted the remainder into cash, and deposited it into the inmates' accounts for funds held in custody. A man identified only as A, who was previously held at a correctional facility, described conditions inside to KBS, saying that inmates with more than 100 stamps could live comfortably without doing dishes or laundry.

As stamps have increasingly been used as a means of exchange, purchases of stamps at correctional facilities have also risen. The amount spent on stamps by prisons nationwide has increased by about 5 billion won over the past four years. Last year alone, 980 inmates purchased stamps worth at least 1.5 million won. Concerns have also been raised about illegal activity involving prisoner service agencies operating outside correctional facilities. Reports of some agencies placing bets on Sports Toto on behalf of inmates or disappearing after taking money and other valuables have highlighted gaps in oversight of outside services for inmates.

Lee Eunhae and accomplice Cho Hyunsu. The Asia Business Daily DB

Meanwhile, Lee was indicted on charges of murdering her husband, identified only as Yoon, with her accomplice Cho Hyunsu at Yongso Valley in Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi Province, on June 30, 2019. Lee and Cho were accused of failing to properly rescue Yoon, who could not swim, after he jumped into the valley's water, causing his death. Prosecutors concluded that they committed the crime to claim the 800 million won in life insurance proceeds under Yoon's name. They were also accused of attempting to kill Yoon earlier that year by feeding him food laced with pufferfish poison in February and pushing him into the water at a fishing site in May, but those attempts were unsuccessful. In September 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the original ruling sentencing Lee to life imprisonment and Cho to 30 years in prison.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.