Debates rekindle in Korea over classifying gaming as addictive disorder

Then-presidential candidate Lee Jae Myung reacts while playing League of Legends at Gwangju E-Sports Arena, May 17. Joint Press Corps

Debates are rekindling in Korea over classifying video gaming as an addictive disorder, as the health ministry’s recent description of internet gaming as an addiction drew fierce backlash from the gaming industry and the culture ministry.

During the election period, President Lee Jae Myung officially pledged to defer Korea’s domestic decision to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation to member countries to classify “gaming disorder” as a disease.

The industry is closely watching whether the pledge will be honored in a draft of the revised national disease classification system, which is scheduled to be released in October and take effect in 2030.

According to government officials, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Thursday sent an official letter to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and municipal governments, raising concerns over the use of the term “gaming addiction.”

The culture ministry noted that the health ministry is guiding local governments to cite and use the term in their policies by classifying gaming alongside alcohol, drugs and gambling.

“Classifying gaming as a disease could lead to social stigmatization, cultural distortion and a decline in the industry, and therefore requires careful consideration and social consensus,” the culture ministry said.

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The letter came after the city government of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and an addiction management center in the city promoted a contest earlier this month for creating addiction prevention content by listing alcohol, drugs, gambling and internet gaming as “four major addictions.”

This triggered a fierce backlash from domestic game studios and publishers, many of which are headquartered in Seongnam and where over 44,000 people are employed in the industry.

In a joint statement released Wednesday, eight game industry associations criticized the move. “Treating games as a form of addiction in a city like this is an insult to both the industry and its users," they said.

The Seongnam city government explained that it followed the health ministry’s guidelines for addiction management centers, and that it proactively labeled games as an addictive substance. The city also said it has since revised the contest’s wording, changing “internet gaming” to “internet.”

The gaming industry is interpreting the culture ministry’s official letter as a signal that the Lee administration does not intend to classify gaming as an addictive disease. However, game company officials said concerns still remain because voices from the medical and education sectors continue to argue that gaming addiction should be included as a medical condition.

Vietnamese fans of the Hanwha Life Esports League of Legends team root for players during a fan meeting in Ho Chi Minh City, Wednesday. Yonhap

The debate has been ongoing since the WHO defined gaming disorder as a diagnosable condition in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) in 2019 and recommended that member countries voluntarily adopt it into their respective disease standards in 2022.

The Korean government is set to reveal the ninth revision of the Korean Standard Classification of Diseases and Causes of Death (KCD-9) in July, and the revision will be effective from 2026 to 2030. The KCD-9 does not include gaming as an addictive disorder because it is based on the ICD-10, the previous version.

The government is now working on the KCD-10, whose first draft will be available in October this year, and will take effect in 2030. Since the KCD-10 will use the ICD-11 as a reference, officials say there are grounds for the government to classify gaming as an addictive disorder. Through last year, 12 official meetings and four commissioned studies have been conducted by a public-private consultative body, but no consensus has been reached between the government and the industry.

“The industry is pinning high hopes on Lee’s game-friendly pledges, including blocking the classification of gaming as a disease,” one official said. “It is regrettable that the recent incident has reignited the debate, but we hope the new administration will actively communicate with the industry and ensure those pledges are fulfilled.”