By Do Je-hae
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has made it clear it will not support a new proposal for regulating online games being pushed by some conservative members of the National Assembly.
A bill proposed by lawmaker Shin Eui-jin of the ruling Saenuri Party in May has been generating much debate for placing Internet gaming in the same category of addictive activities such as drugs, alcohol and gambling.
''We are against managing game addiction in the same way as containing drugs, drinking and gambling,'' Lee Soo-myung, a director at the ministry, told reporters on Tuesday.
''Our position remains the same as it was in June, when we first issued a review of the bill," he said.
The review had underlined its opposition to the bill, particularly in view of the fact that games are a legitimate activity for everyone, including minors, unlike doing drugs or consuming alcohol.
''We do sympathize with the intent of this bill and recognize the seriousness of game addiction. But it is our position that gaming does not belong in this bill,'' Lee said. ''We see the need for more discussion from relevant parties and the industry on settling differences regarding the bill.''
A former psychiatrist, Shin claims that the impact of games can be as harmful as alcohol, drugs and gambling. Shin's bill groups these activities as the four major sources of addiction and calls for tougher state control. For this, the bill proposes the establishment of the National Addiction Control Committee as a unit of the Prime Minister's Office.
The game industry sees the bill as unacceptable and outdated, as well as a huge impediment to the growth of the industry. The bill, however, is gaining support among those like Saenuri Party Chairman Hwang Woo-yea, who has called game addiction a ''social evil.''
According to Shin, more than 6 percent of the Korean population is in need of treatment for addiction to alcohol, drugs, games or gambling.
Korea is one of the global centers of the expanding market of ''online''' video games played on servers instead of consoles. It's also where game addiction is an increasing social problem and as a result policymakers are caught between promoting games as an industry and limiting its use. The law already prevents gamers under the age of 16 from playing between midnight and 6 a.m., but youngsters seem to find it easy to bypass the restraints.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has made it clear it will not support a new proposal for regulating online games being pushed by some conservative members of the National Assembly.
A bill proposed by lawmaker Shin Eui-jin of the ruling Saenuri Party in May has been generating much debate for placing Internet gaming in the same category of addictive activities such as drugs, alcohol and gambling.
''We are against managing game addiction in the same way as containing drugs, drinking and gambling,'' Lee Soo-myung, a director at the ministry, told reporters on Tuesday.
''Our position remains the same as it was in June, when we first issued a review of the bill," he said.
The review had underlined its opposition to the bill, particularly in view of the fact that games are a legitimate activity for everyone, including minors, unlike doing drugs or consuming alcohol.
''We do sympathize with the intent of this bill and recognize the seriousness of game addiction. But it is our position that gaming does not belong in this bill,'' Lee said. ''We see the need for more discussion from relevant parties and the industry on settling differences regarding the bill.''
A former psychiatrist, Shin claims that the impact of games can be as harmful as alcohol, drugs and gambling. Shin's bill groups these activities as the four major sources of addiction and calls for tougher state control. For this, the bill proposes the establishment of the National Addiction Control Committee as a unit of the Prime Minister's Office.
The game industry sees the bill as unacceptable and outdated, as well as a huge impediment to the growth of the industry. The bill, however, is gaining support among those like Saenuri Party Chairman Hwang Woo-yea, who has called game addiction a ''social evil.''
According to Shin, more than 6 percent of the Korean population is in need of treatment for addiction to alcohol, drugs, games or gambling.
Korea is one of the global centers of the expanding market of ''online''' video games played on servers instead of consoles. It's also where game addiction is an increasing social problem and as a result policymakers are caught between promoting games as an industry and limiting its use. The law already prevents gamers under the age of 16 from playing between midnight and 6 a.m., but youngsters seem to find it easy to bypass the restraints.
![[INTERVIEW] Hip-hop group Uptown returns after 13 years with new lineup](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/0eae35da5e9c40c38cf439e550a2eb3e.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] ASTRO members aim to shine in musical theater](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/df16760dc50f469d93434f66a069465c.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
