The Korean assembly is now considering legislative measures to give the government authority to apply the same legal restrictions to online games as alcohol, gambling and drugs.
A government study earlier this year claimed that two per cent of all Koreans aged 10-19 needed treatment for excessive online gaming or were at risk of addiction.
“We need to create a clean Korea free from the four addictions,” said ruling party MP Hwang Woo-yea in a recent statement.
The wave of proposed regulations has also gained support from parents, religious leaders and physicians, alarming the country’s online games industry and angering gamers. One law would limit game advertising, and a separate bill would take one per cent of game industry revenues to create an addiction prevention fund.
As reported earlier this year, fourteen South Korean representatives joined South Korean politician Shin Eui-jin to introduce the bill grouping online games with alcohol, gambling and drugs as activities in need stricter regulation due to their addictive nature.
“The governing body shall have the right to regulate the manufacturing, distribution and sale of addictive substances and can limit promotion of them as well,” according to a draft of the bill.
A law passed in 2011 banning gaming between midnight and sunrise for youths under age 16 is also being challenged in Korea’s constitutional court.
“There is a huge prejudice that gaming is harmful,” said attorney Lee Byung-chan. “Games are as harmful as alcohol, drugs and gambling, that’s the prejudice.”
