Games Drive the Economy, but Seongnam City Labels Games as "One of the Four Major Addictive Substances" in Contest

Until August 17: Games Explicitly Labeled as One of the "Four Major Addictions"
Game Industry: "Anachronistic and a Repeat of Past Oppression"

Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province, a hub for game companies, is facing controversy for holding a content creation contest that defines games as one of the so-called "four major addictive substances."

The Seongnam City Integrated Addiction Management Support Center (hereinafter referred to as the Support Center) announced that it will be recruiting participants for the "Addiction Prevention Content Creation Contest Using AI" from June 16 to August 17. The contest invites the creation of addiction prevention content such as videos, short-form content, and commercial songs using artificial intelligence (AI).

The contest is hosted by Seongnam City and organized by the Support Center, with a total prize pool of 12 million won.

Game Defined as One of the Four Major Addictions in Contest Guidelines
[Image source=Captured from Seongnam City Integrated Addiction Management Support Center (www.snac.or.kr)]

The issue is that, along with the goal of a "healthy Seongnam without the harms of addiction," the contest guidelines explicitly mention the "prevention of the four major addictions (alcohol, drugs, gambling, and internet games)."

In addition, when uploading the created content to social networking services (SNS), participants are required to include this phrase as a mandatory hashtag. Failure to do so may result in point deductions.

The concept of the four major addictions first appeared in 2013, during the Park Geun-hye administration, when Shin Eui-jin, a lawmaker from the Saenuri Party, proposed the "Act on Prevention, Management, and Treatment of Addictions." This act classified games, along with alcohol, gambling, and drugs, as one of the four major addictive substances, with the intention of strengthening government management and control.

The game industry is voicing strong criticism over Seongnam City, the center of Korea's game industry, planning such a contest. In the area around Pangyo Station in Seongnam, major domestic game companies such as Neowiz, Nexon, Smilegate, NCSoft, Webzen, Wemade, and Kakao Games, as well as many small and medium-sized game companies and related businesses, are concentrated.

Namkoong Hoon, co-chairman of the Game Foundation and former CEO of Kakao Games and Kakao, expressed his criticism on SNS the previous day, stating, "There are government officials in Seongnam City who are making this anachronistic claim that games are one of the four major addictions in Pangyo, Seongnam, where game companies are concentrated."

Notice for Participants Recruitment for the 'Addiction Prevention Content Creation Contest Using AI'
[Image Source=Provided by Seongnam City]

He added, "We have maintained a close relationship with Seongnam City and, for the sake of its youth, the Game Foundation recently provided 100 million won in support and held various events together. But I think it's time to suggest that we stop."

Hwang Heedoo, director of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation and former co-chairman of the Democratic Party's Game Special Committee during the last presidential election, pointed out, "Pangyo is the region where 60% of domestic game sales occur, and even President Lee Jaemyung consistently emphasized the importance of the game industry since his time as mayor of Seongnam." He added, "Viewing games as an addiction is a repeat of past oppression."

President Lee, during the last presidential election, expressed regret in a meeting with e-sports officials, saying, "We were far ahead in the game industry, but during the Park Geun-hye administration, games were regulated like drug addiction, which allowed China to overtake us at the time."

He further emphasized, "Whether it is the central or local government, it is important not to treat games like drug addiction, and support should come after that."