Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Begins Phase 1 Discussion on Improving the 'Shutdown System'... Will It Be Abolished This Time?

Meeting of Self-Regulation Reform Committee Held to Abolish Mandatory Shutdown System
Vice Minister Kim Kyung-sun and Game Industry, Youth Organizations, Experts Participate
Controversy as Shutdown System Applied During Minecraft Account Integration
Amendments Proposed One After Another Including Abolition of Shutdown System and Removal of Over-Immersion Term

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has begun discussions to abolish the Shutdown System.

On the 30th, the Ministry will hold a meeting of its Self-Regulation Reform Committee at 2 p.m. at the Government Seoul Office Building. This is the first meeting to explore improvement measures for the Shutdown System, which the gaming industry has requested to be revised.

The Ministry is discussing improvements to the Shutdown System, one of the 15 regulatory challenge tasks of the government. This meeting is the first stage hosted by the Ministry. The regulatory challenge tasks involve receiving proposals from the private sector regarding regulations that are more excessive than those in major foreign countries. These proposals undergo a three-stage review process involving the relevant ministries, the Office for Government Policy Coordination, and the Prime Minister’s Office to verify regulations and overseas cases and to assess ripple effects before deciding on improvements.

At this first-stage meeting, Vice Minister Kim Kyung-sun, representatives from the Game Industry Association, Lee Hyun-sook, CEO of Tacteen Tomorrow, Professor Yoo Hong-sik of Chung-Ang University, and officials from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will attend to review ways to ease the Shutdown System.

The Ministry will listen to opinions from various sectors regarding improvement measures, following the policy direction to improve the Shutdown System since 2014. The focus will be on rational regulation operation to enhance the effectiveness of youth protection, expected effects or side effects of regulatory improvements, and effective protection measures to prevent youth overindulgence.

The Shutdown System restricts internet game access for youth under the age of 16 from midnight to 6 a.m. The controversy over the Shutdown System began when Microsoft (MS), the operator of the popular teen game "Minecraft," decided to apply the Shutdown System to users under 16 during account integration. Since its introduction in 2011, the system has faced multiple abolition debates, and in 2014, the Constitutional Court ruled it constitutional, maintaining it to this day.

Ruling and opposition party lawmakers have proposed amendments to the Youth Protection Act calling for the abolition of the Shutdown System. On the 20th, Representative Cho Seung-rae proposed an amendment to the Game Industry Promotion Act to unify the system by deleting the 'mandatory Shutdown System' provisions from the Youth Protection Act and adopting the game time selection system regulated under the Game Industry Promotion Act. Additionally, Representative Kwon In-sook of the Democratic Party proposed an amendment to the Youth Protection Act to abolish the Shutdown System and allow youth and guardians to autonomously control gaming through counseling and education services. Representative Heo Eun-ah of the People Power Party proposed an amendment to improve terminology by changing 'internet game addiction' to 'overindulgence' and abolishing the late-night usage restriction clause.

The nonprofit organization Open Net is recruiting petitioners to file a constitutional complaint against the Shutdown System. Open Net stated, "The Shutdown System is a premodern and nationalist system based on administrative convenience, excessively interfering with youth’s sleep time under the guise of youth protection. It infringes on youth’s cultural enjoyment rights, game access rights, pursuit of happiness rights, equality rights, parents’ rights to educate their children, internet game providers’ freedom of expression, freedom to perform their profession, and equality rights."

Vice Minister Kim Kyung-sun of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said, "We expect that sufficient discussion on improving the game Shutdown System and protecting youth from game overindulgence will take place at this Self-Regulation Reform Committee meeting, ultimately leading to legislative improvements of the Shutdown System. We will actively improve systems that may be criticized as excessive regulations to meet the public’s expectations."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.