Contest Held Classifying Games as One of the "Four Major Addictions"
Gaming Industry Faces Widespread Criticism
A controversy has arisen after it was belatedly revealed that Seongnam City, where many game companies are concentrated, and its affiliated agency held a contest that classified games as one of the "four major addictions" alongside alcohol, drugs, and gambling. In response, the related post was suddenly deleted.
According to the gaming industry on June 16, the Seongnam City Integrated Addiction Management Support Center (hereafter referred to as the Support Center) deleted the announcement regarding the "Addiction Prevention Content Creation Contest Using AI" from its website on this day. The announcement had been posted earlier this month.
Addiction Prevention Content Creation Contest Using AI. Seongnam City Integrated Addiction Management Support Center Website.
At the time, the Support Center specified as contest themes the promotion of the Support Center, "a healthy Seongnam without addiction damage," and the "prevention of the four major addictions (alcohol, drugs, gambling, internet games)." The contest was hosted by Seongnam City and organized by the Support Center, with a total prize pool of 12 million won.
Within the gaming industry, there was a strong backlash against Seongnam City?known as the "mecca of the Korean game industry"?for using a socially controversial expression and attempting to classify games as an addictive substance similar to drugs.
The classification of games as a target for addiction management was found to be specified on the Ministry of Health and Welfare's mental health policy information page as well as on the websites of addiction management support centers nationwide.
The Korea Game Users Association announced on this day that it had filed a public petition and a request for information disclosure, arguing that the Ministry of Health and Welfare included games as a target for addiction management at the addiction management support centers without any legal basis. The association stated, "The Mental Health Welfare Act only specifies 'addiction issues such as alcohol, drugs, gambling, and the internet' as targets for support by addiction management support centers, and the term 'game' cannot be found. The Ministry of Health and Welfare's arbitrary interpretation of the law must be immediately corrected and deleted."
The association also pointed out that about 40 out of 60 addiction management support centers nationwide use direct or indirect expressions related to game addiction.
Lee Chulwoo, president of the association, noted that the Culture and Arts Promotion Act, revised in 2022, included games within the category of culture and arts, and added, "According to a 2024 Gallup Korea survey, games were selected as the most popular hobby among Koreans, indicating a shift in social perception." He further criticized that policies designating games as a target for addiction management run counter to these social changes.
The World Health Organization (WHO) classified gaming disorder as a disease in 2019 and included it in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). However, it has not yet been incorporated into the Korean Standard Classification of Diseases (KCD), which is the domestic disease classification system. In academic circles, there is ongoing debate regarding the validity of the WHO's decision to classify gaming disorder as a disease.
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