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The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Thursday announced a package of plans to regulate online gambling including a limit on the purchase of game money to 300,000 won ($280) a month. The decision is expected to trigger fierce resistance from online game operators who claim that the regulation will kill the industry.
According to the authorities, registered users of sites hosting “hwatu” (a Korean card game), poker and other games will only be able to buy 300,000 won worth of game money or gaming items a month. Exchanging “gifts” among users will also be banned.
Users who try to bet more than 10,000 won a session or 100,000 won a day will have their access to the website automatically suspended for 48 hours. They will also be banned from starting a game without the approval of their counterpart in order to stem fraud.
Website operators will be mandated to confirm the identity of the users using an i-PIN or other means at the time of log-in and block users from having multiple IDs. Those who violate the rules will be subject to a 10 million won fine and may face litigation by the government for repeated offenses. The plan is expected to come into effect as early as January next year.
The ministry explained that the regulations are based on the Game Industry Promotion Act, which allows the Culture Minister to prohibit speculation in online games. The authorities have already abolished full-betting and reduced the price of items to less than 10,000 won a unit.
“We have been discussing the plans with online game operators since August. We understand that the rules are tough but hope they will comply with the policy. Online gambling addiction is as serious as offline gambling, resulting in wrecked homes and other tragedies,” said Lee Soo-myoung, director of the game contents industry division of the ministry.
The announcement invited severe criticism from the game industry, which is assumed to be worth around 4.7 trillion won in annual sales, of which online games account for 10 percent. An industry insider said sales would plummet.
“We have already accepted a series of regulations but this one will be serious. We will need to have serious talks with the government,” a source said.
By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)
According to the authorities, registered users of sites hosting “hwatu” (a Korean card game), poker and other games will only be able to buy 300,000 won worth of game money or gaming items a month. Exchanging “gifts” among users will also be banned.
Users who try to bet more than 10,000 won a session or 100,000 won a day will have their access to the website automatically suspended for 48 hours. They will also be banned from starting a game without the approval of their counterpart in order to stem fraud.
Website operators will be mandated to confirm the identity of the users using an i-PIN or other means at the time of log-in and block users from having multiple IDs. Those who violate the rules will be subject to a 10 million won fine and may face litigation by the government for repeated offenses. The plan is expected to come into effect as early as January next year.
The ministry explained that the regulations are based on the Game Industry Promotion Act, which allows the Culture Minister to prohibit speculation in online games. The authorities have already abolished full-betting and reduced the price of items to less than 10,000 won a unit.
“We have been discussing the plans with online game operators since August. We understand that the rules are tough but hope they will comply with the policy. Online gambling addiction is as serious as offline gambling, resulting in wrecked homes and other tragedies,” said Lee Soo-myoung, director of the game contents industry division of the ministry.
The announcement invited severe criticism from the game industry, which is assumed to be worth around 4.7 trillion won in annual sales, of which online games account for 10 percent. An industry insider said sales would plummet.
“We have already accepted a series of regulations but this one will be serious. We will need to have serious talks with the government,” a source said.
By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)
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Articles by Korea Herald
