Ha Tae-kyung: "The campaign committee even passed over the candidate... An interview was released without reporting to the candidate"

Criticism Over Confusion in Yoon Campaign's Game Policy

Ha Tae-kyung, member of the People Power Party. [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Amid controversy over Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate's interview on game policy, Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, criticized on the 2nd, saying, "It has been confirmed that the game policy interview released under Yoon's name was not reported to the candidate," and called for disciplinary action against the election campaign committee officials.

Earlier, in a written interview with the game-specialized media 'Inven' released on the 1st, Yoon responded to the issue of disclosing information about probability-type items by saying, "Profit-seeking is natural from a company's perspective," and added, "Strong regulation is not always the best solution," which sparked controversy.

Probability-type items refer to purchases made by game users without knowing the outcome, similar to a lottery. Since the probability of obtaining rare items desired by users is low, it has been criticized for causing excessive spending by users.

Regarding this, Representative Ha expressed on Facebook, "The Yoon Seok-yeol election campaign committee has announced its stance on game policy for the first time. However, some answers seem to represent the industry's position rather than gamers', leading to strong backlash from gamers," and added, "I express deep concern and regret over the election campaign committee's perception, which is greatly detached from gamers' sentiments."

He continued, "The National Assembly has also agreed on strengthening government regulations on probability-type items. Taking a stance against this atmosphere could negatively affect youth support rates," and added, "It would have been better if the election campaign committee had discussed and announced the game policy together with our office, but it is very regrettable that this did not happen."

Later, Representative Ha posted again on Facebook, saying, "Last night, I pointed out the problems with that interview and criticized it for lowering youth support rates. Immediately after, it was confirmed that the interview was not even reported to the candidate."

He said, "Interview answers that were not approved by the candidate are being released under the candidate's name," and criticized, "Currently, the People Power Party's election campaign committee is bypassing not only the party leader but also the candidate."

He added, "Games are an issue that has a profound influence on the 20s and 30s generation. There is a serious problem with the current election campaign committee releasing such a major issue under the candidate's name without consulting in-party game-specialized lawmakers or even the candidate himself," and insisted, "Those responsible for bypassing the candidate must be found and severely punished."

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is speaking at a meeting on the impact of COVID-19 on self-employed businesses held at a restaurant in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 2nd.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, on the same day, candidate Yoon clarified his position by posting a message titled 'Games Are Not a Disease' on Facebook. He said, "With economic growth stagnating, the game industry is a key industry that creates quality jobs and exports worldwide," and added, "In an era of a youth employment cliff, the game industry, which hires mostly employees in their 20s and 30s, is a sector that the government should actively support."

He continued, "Therefore, government interference should be minimized, and our companies with world-class technology should be entrusted with creativity and innovation. However, regarding unreasonable issues widely agreed upon, such as the opacity of probability-type items, we will respect gamers' opinions by moving toward transparent disclosure of probability information."

He also said, "Games are by no means a disease. Young talents in our election campaign committee have sent me opinions recalling the time they spent playing games during their school days," and concluded, "Except for parts where excessive gambling is a concern, I believe that outdated regulations on games should be approached with caution."

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