Upon checking, it wasn't just OTK Gas Korea that received the official docunt. Apparently, most major ga companies received similar docunts.
I didn't quite understand and asked, "But why is the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family sending this? Isn't gaming a cultural industry, handled by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism?"
Taek-gyu, well-versed in these matters, explained, "Ga regulations are effectively under the purview of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF)."
"Why?"
"The Youth Protection Commission is under MOGEF. That's why MOGEF takes the lead on the Shutdown Law, the System for Sound Use of the Internet by Youth, determinations of dia harmful to youth, and so on."
I reread the official docunt carefully. The very first clause was rather baffling. "Limit connection ti to 4 hours to guarantee adolescents' right to sleep and study? Didn't you say the Shutdown Law already exists?"
Taek-gyu explained. The Shutdown Law prevents adolescents under 16 from accessing online gas between midnight and 6 AM. If they are logged in before that ti, they are forcibly logged out.
Imagine raiding a boss monster together, and the healer is a middle school student? The mont it hits midnight, the healer gets kicked out, and the other characters, unable to receive heals, get wiped out. This actually happened frequently in online gas, leading to the practice of checking ages before starting cooperative play like raids or group battles near midnight.
"A few years ago, an e-sports match got delayed, and when it went past midnight, the Korean gar had to forfeit."
"What is this, Cinderella?"
"Yeah. That's why it's also called the Cinderella Law."
"......"
This incident received significant international dia coverage and was recorded as one of the most absurd events in e-sports history.
Korea's ga industry is dominated by online gas. Therefore, the Shutdown Law dealt a direct blow to the industry. However, the Shutdown Law only applied to online gas, excluding console or mobile gas. So ga companies deliberately increased sexual content and violence to get an adults-only (19 ) rating or moved overseas to avoid regulations.
Ga companies continuously raised fairness issues regarding this problem, and MOGEF recently proposed a solution.
"How?"
"They said they'll implent the Shutdown Law for console and mobile gas too in the future."
"......"
Truly a genius solution.
"Anyway, if they limit it to 4 hours, isn't that basically telling them not to play gas at all?"
Beneath it, there was even a kind explanation about a "cooling-off" system, requiring disconnection every 2 hours and allowing reconnection only once after a 10-minute break.
I flipped through a few more pages and couldn't contain my bewildernt.
1. Prohibition of productions and expressions presenting uniform appearance standards in gas.
13-1. Avoid presenting uniform desirable appearance standards.
- Uniform appearance standards are being indiscriminately emphasized in gas. If all characters appear as handso n and beautiful won, there is concern it could foster lookism among adolescent players.
13-2. Avoid having an excessive proportion of female characters with similar appearances.
- The age and appearance of female characters in gas lack diversity. Most female characters are aged 10-20, with clear skin, thin bodies, feminine hairstyles, and revealing outfits. Please diversify this by age and appearance.
"What is this nonsense?"
It wasn't that there were no necessary clauses. Who would object to protecting adolescents, preventing ga addiction, and regulating gambling elents? But most of the clauses were absurd and baffling. To comply with all the regulations listed here, they would have to overhaul the entire ga, starting from character design.
Fortunately, this was a 'Request for Cooperation on Self-Regulation,' not a corrective order. It wasn't legally binding, so compliance wasn't mandatory. But when a company receives such an official docunt from a relevant ministry, who could possibly ignore it?
Taek-gyu said furiously, "This will inevitably lead to self-censorship! It's governnt oppression forcing us to restrict creative freedom ourselves!"
"Okay, okay, calm down a bit."
It was rare for him to get this angry. The guy who laughed even when arrested and handcuffed was now furious about ga regulations.
***
We held a video conference with OTK Gas.
Ichikawa Shigeru, having received the report from OTK Gas Korea, was incredulous. "What does it an, 'avoid having female characters with similar appearances'? I've worked in this industry for over 20 years, and this is the first ti I've heard of a governnt pointing out that ga characters are beautiful girls and demanding changes."
I sighed. "Actually, it's the first ti I've heard it too."
"What kind of organization is that place exactly, sending docunts like this?"
"......"
How could I explain this to a foreigner?
Ichikawa Shigeru is the father of the Lost Fantasy series. And this Lost Fantasy Online was a masterpiece he poured his heart and soul into creating. To a creator, a ga is like their child. The suggestion to modify it to suit the governnt's taste was, in itself, an insult.
He stated firmly, "I am aware of the issues regarding gambling, sexual content, and violence, and we reflected these concerns during developnt. I would rather suspend service in Korea than accept such ridiculous demands for modification."
Taek-gyu nodded. "I feel the sa way. It's better not to release the ga at all than to ss it up like that."
At those words, President Ichikawa looked slightly touched. Indeed, what investor would say such a thing?
"I'll take care of this matter, so please don't worry about it and focus on your work."
"Understood."
***
I investigated the background behind MOGEF sending such a docunt. And I quickly grasped the situation.
Serious regulations on online gas began during the Park Si-hyeong administration. The governnt designated gaming, along with alcohol, drugs, and gambling, as the four major addictions and implented the Shutdown Law as a asure to prevent ga addiction among adolescents.
"I get that gas, alcohol, drugs, and gambling are the four major addictions, but why isn't tobacco included?"
"Don't know. Maybe the President played an online ga once and declared, 'That ga is harmful.'"
"......"
Anyway, despite opposition from ga companies and adolescents, these policies gained significant public support. Buoyed by this, the ruling party at the ti, the Hangukgadang (now the Free People's Party), proposed the 'Act on Prevention and Healing Support for Internet Ga Addiction'. The na sounded plausible, but the content was riddled with all sorts of ga regulations.
Fortunately, this bill failed to pass the National Assembly and was automatically discarded with the end of the term. However, Assemblywoman Lee Jung-hye, Assemblywoman Yeon Nakyeong, and other Free People's Party mbers recently reintroduced the bill! Several mbers of the New Politics Party also co-sponsored or supported the bill.
Ga companies, which had been secretly hoping for deregulation with the change in governnt, were struck by lightning. Moreover, with the new Minister of Gender Equality and Family, Shin Jeon-mi (a New Politics Party assemblywoman), strongly supporting it, the possibility of the bill passing was higher than ever.
So, why is MOGEF so keen on ga regulation? There are two main reasons.
First, it's the easiest way to gain support. Regulating gas pleases parents. Regardless of political leaning (progressive or conservative), all parents in Korea dislike their children playing gas. And parents are precious voters with voting rights, while minors do not have voting rights.
I nodded. "Speaking of which, back in the day, my mom used to worry a lot about hanging out with you."
Taek-gyu was surprised. "What? Why?"
"She said after eting you, I stopped studying and only played gas."
Oh Taek-gyu was the reason I got hooked on gas. Well, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have played the MMORPG Ruthenia, and then I wouldn't have sold my character to exchange for Vant Coin. When you think about it, online gas are what made the current OTK Company possible!
Taek-gyu said defensively, "You still got into Hankuk University!"
"Thinking back, I think that's because I went to a different high school than you."
"......"
Second is money. Every ministry needs money to wield power. That's why the Minister of Strategy and Finance, who handles the budget, also serves as the Deputy Pri Minister for Economic Affairs and ranks highest among all ministers. And other departnts fiercely compete to secure their budgets.
The absolute core of this bill is money. According to the bill, funds are to be raised for establishing internet ga addiction treatnt centers, and the Minister of Gender Equality and Family is responsible for securing these funds. To this end, the MOGEF Minister can collect funds from internet ga-related businesses within a range of up to 1% of their annual revenue.
Not 1% of net profit, but 1% of revenue!
Although ga companies have high profit margins relative to revenue, 1% of revenue is an enormous amount. Theoretically, funds could even be collected from companies operating at a loss. On top of this, if violations are found, additional fines of up to 5% of revenue can be imposed!
Are there more ga addicts or smartphone addicts in the world? Obviously, smartphone addicts. But funds aren't collected from smartphone manufacturers based on their revenue. Money isn't collected from A-Tube for video addiction or from Facenote for SNS addiction. Yet, such regulations are uniquely imposed on gas because they are the easiest target.
If the regulations were applied to the maximum extent, most ga companies would go bankrupt. Of course, unless the governnt is determined to kill the ga industry, they probably wouldn't go that far...
Taek-gyu shook his head. "You say that because you don't know the current MOGEF Minister. Don't you feel anything after seeing this docunt?"
"......"
I did feel sothing.
Once the bill passes, the MOGEF Minister will gain the power to control ga companies at will. Then, ga companies will have no choice but to create gas while constantly watching MOGEF's mood.
"Hearing that, it certainly seems like a serious problem."
In addition, the bill included content to strengthen the Shutdown Law. Currently, it applies to those under 16, from midnight to 6 AM (six hours). But according to the new bill, the age limit would be raised to under 19, and the duration extended to nine hours, from 10 PM to 7 AM. At this point, it's practically telling minors not to play gas at all.
Furthermore, all gas must undergo asurent of their internet addiction inducent index before release. If the index is high, distribution can be prohibited. Even more absurdly, the index must be reasured whenever a patch or update is released.
"What the..."
Ga addiction is a serious problem, and solutions must be found. But gas and drugs are different. Drugs are illegal and harmful in themselves, so while treating addiction, the industry itself must be eradicated through strict regulation. Gas, however, have a positive function as a hobby and entertainnt that fills people's leisure ti. But recent bills effectively define gas as a social evil. If all gas are treated as harmful and regulated just because ga addicts exist, the entire industry could collapse.
Regulations exist in every country, but Korea's are particularly severe. Korean companies have no choice but to follow governnt policies. However, foreign companies are relatively free. From our perspective, there are plenty of ways to circumvent this.
Lost Fantasy Online doesn't have servers in Korea. It just has a Korean corporation established for official service. The simultaneous release in Korea happened only because Taek-gyu made it a condition when investing in OTK Gas; the Korean market isn't necessarily that crucial. Ichikawa Shigeru aid for global success from the developnt stage. Indeed, Lost Fantasy M was popular not only in Asia but also in North Arica and Europe, and interest in Lost Fantasy Online had significantly increased.
Therefore, they could simply withdraw the Korean corporation and stop the service. People who want to play the ga could connect to foreign servers and create accounts. There would be limitations in marketing and events, but that wouldn't be a major issue. At least it would be better than confronting MOGEF head-on.
However, Taek-gyu thought differently. "Trying to kill the ga industry with such ridiculous regulations. We can't just stand by!"
"If we don't stand by?"
Taek-gyu clenched his fists and shouted, "We must fight against unfair regulations to the end!"
I said, bewildered, "Since when were you so full of fighting spirit?"
"From this very mont! This is the mont!"
"......"
He looked ready to belt out a musical number.
Instead of singing, Taek-gyu called Team Leader Jung Gi-hong, who had just returned from his honeymoon.
I greeted him. "You look radiant as a newlywed. Did you enjoy your honeymoon?"
"Yes. Thanks to the CEO and Vice President, I had a wonderful ti. I never imagined I'd get to fly on a private jet in my life. It felt like a dream. The sea in Cancun was so beautiful, every morning Hyun-jung and I started the day expressing gratitude for the CEO and Vice President's consideration..."
Taek-gyu cut him off. "Save the details for later. Make a Buster Call to the major dostic ga companies imdiately."
Naturally, he didn't understand. "What's a Buster Call?"
"Call them all to gather. We're initiating collective action now."
"Huh? Suddenly gather the ga companies?"
I nodded. "Just do as he says."
Taek-gyu was fired up. It had been a while since I saw him this motivated. There was no stopping Oh Taek-gyu now!
"Alright. Do whatever you want."
People should live doing what they want to do.
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