Status and problems of online game regulations for juvenile protection - centered on the online game shutdown system of Korea

Korea’s Compulsive Shutdown System bans online game providers from offering their services to children under 16 years of age from midnight to 6 a.m. Although it was introduced only after lengthy rounds of discussion, controversy over the system still continues. The key question is whether the system, which unilaterally emphasizes juvenile protection, infringes upon the freedom of playing games for teenagers, the freedom of business for game products related business operators and the right to foster children for parents, which are basic rights under the Constitution. It is very encouraging that the State took up the issue and prepared various systems for juvenile protection through the Compulsive Shutdown System. Yet the government has to plan as comprehensive and effective of a measure as it possibly can by predicting the trends of technology development and game use, and also set detailed standards to ensure that the system should not become an excessive or inappropriate regulation. Although the State’s compulsive intervention may be positive since it is hard to expect a self purification capability to exhibit itself concerning game use among teenagers, a plan to prevent game addiction among adolescents from the long-term and fundamental perspectives should be prepared as well.