Sangheon Lee "Rating Classification Should Be Simplified"... Proposed Amendment to the Game Industry Act

Lee Sang-heon, Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] A bill to simplify the domestic game rating classification procedure has been proposed.

Lee Sang-heon, a member of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, announced on the 5th that he has taken the lead in proposing the "Game Industry Promotion Act (Game Industry Act) Amendment Bill," which includes modernizing the game rating classification system in line with international trends.

Currently, all games distributed and circulated domestically must receive age-based ratings from the Game Rating and Administration Committee, the Game Content Rating Board (GCRB), and self-rating classification operators designated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, such as Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

However, the domestic review administrative procedures are more complicated than those overseas, resulting in a very long time to receive actual rating classification. This has caused inconvenience not only to developers but also to users. It has also been pointed out that this is out of step with the global trend of simplifying review procedures. The International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) grants ratings immediately when developers submit a completed questionnaire.

The amendment bill proposed by Lee includes applying a questionnaire-based rating classification system domestically to simplify the rating classification procedure.

To prevent loopholes in the simplification of the system, safety measures such as the scope and implementation method of the questionnaire-based rating classification and the obligations of the raters have also been established.

In cases where the game is deemed unsuitable for youth, the committee can verify the content and approve or reject the rating classification results, and if the rating classification results do not meet the standards or are subject to rejection, the committee can reclassify or cancel the rating ex officio.

In particular, criminal penalties will be imposed if a game is distributed with content different from the rated content, and obligations to submit materials and comply with corrective orders have been imposed.

Lee said, "Through this amendment, we will improve the inefficient system to enhance convenience for both developers and users, and establish various safety measures to ensure that the review system is not operated arbitrarily, thereby achieving the two goals of 'efficiency and ethical assurance.'"