WHO's decision over game addiction widens difference between policymakers.

By Lim Chang-won Posted : May 28, 2019, 14:57 Updated : May 28, 2019, 14:57

[Gettyimages Bank]

SEOUL -- South Korea will launch a consultative body involving civilian and government experts to form a social consensus as the World Health Organization's decision to classify excessive gaming as an illness widened differences between policymakers.

The Office for Government Policy Coordination under the prime minister's office chaired a meeting of vice ministers from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which have been at odds after the WHO defined problems caused by excessive gaming as a disorder in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).

The WHO outlined a grace period extending up to January 1, 2022, but revised rules will take effect in South Korea in 2016.

"Through a public-private consultative body, we will seek reasonable measures to establish a sound game culture while minimizing the game industry's concerns regarding the introduction of disease codes," the government said in a statement, adding that it would fully gather opinions on whether, when and how to introduce a disease code for game addition.

The health and welfare ministry supported a disease code to prevent game addiction. The ministry has tried to define excessive gaming as the main cause of addiction along with drug, alcohol, internet, and gambling.

The culture ministry sided with game developers, who have complained about excessive regulations. South Korea's gaming industry was once hit by a business slump that began in 2012 when a "shutdown" law was enforced to bar youngsters under the age of 16 from playing computer games from midnight to 6 a.m. The government enforced a revised and tighter law in 2014.

Culture ministry officials insisted young people engage in compulsive gaming activities not simply because of games but because of psychosocial factors. The Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), a governmental agency, promised to campaign against a disease code for game addition.

"Gaming overindulgence is not a problem of games, but rather of the environment around users," Kang Kyung-seok, head of KOCCA's game headquarters, told a forum on Tuesday, citing a five-year panel study of 2,000 players from 2014 that showed only 1.4 percent of teenagers have been over-indulged.
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