Wi Jeong-hyun "Special Advisory Group Shocked by Lee Jae-myung's 'P2E Support' Statement"

"P2E is the adolescent version of Bada Story"
"Lobbying rumors of P2E companies openly circulating among lawmakers"

Wi Jeong-hyun, president of the Korea Game Society who served as the head of the game and metaverse special advisory group in Lee Jae-myung's 2021 presidential campaign, expressed concern over Lee's statement on the 'P2E (Play to Earn) legalization pledge,' saying "the entire advisory group was deeply shocked" and describing P2E as a "youth version of Bada Iyagi."

On the 17th, on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' Wi said, "When we organized opinions within the campaign and presented them to the candidate, we specifically warned, 'P2E is a dangerous bomb. If legalized, it will trigger a youth version of Bada Iyagi, which would be a huge problem.' However, suddenly, the candidate appeared on a certain YouTube channel and said, 'Blocking P2E is a policy of isolationism; we must align with future trends,'" he revealed.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He added, "We wondered through what route such a dangerous idea came out of the candidate's mouth. After we raised this issue, we quickly held a policy debate at the National Assembly where we clearly opposed it again," and "then the candidate changed his stance during the opening remarks of our policy debate, saying, 'We need to sufficiently consider the negative aspects,' suggesting a more balanced view," he explained the full story.

The reason he views P2E as a "youth version of Bada Iyagi" is because it has a mechanism similar to the 'Bada Iyagi' incident during the Roh Moo-hyun administration. Wi explained, "Bada Iyagi involved slot machines where the points earned were converted into gift certificates. Since these gift certificates were almost like cash, adults nationwide rushed to gamble," and "for youths, earning about 3,000 won a day is a huge amount of money. For example, if a student is caught secretly playing a Wemade game on their smartphone during class, when asked, 'What are you doing?' they would answer, 'I'm playing a money-making game,'" he said.

He claimed that the P2E industry extensively lobbied throughout Yeouido. Wi stated, "We openly hear that P2E companies and related organizations have been lobbying," and "especially targeting the National Assembly, and during the presidential election, some invisible hand was at work in both Lee Jae-myung's and Yoon Seok-youl's campaign camps," he said.

He added, "Even after the election, although President Yoon Seok-youl was elected, both ruling and opposition party lawmakers in the National Assembly continued to push for legalization," he concluded.

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