[Reporter’s Notebook] Short-Form 'Drinking Mukbangs' Tempting Youth Must Be Curbed

"Everyone, this is dangerous!" A man on a cellphone screen gulped down a large cup of whiskey. In the following video, recommended by the algorithm, another man drank soju straight from the bottle. This is a so-called "drinking mukbang" that a male high school sophomore in the humanities track in the Seoul metropolitan area recently found on the short-form platform TikTok. The student, who happened to come across videos of people drinking alcohol, told the reporter, "I was curious because adults were drinking and looked happy with expressions like celebrities." After that, the student started searching for short-form drinking videos on overseas platforms that do not require age verification and eventually began to actually drink alcohol.

Unlike traditional media, where broadcasts or advertisements related to alcohol are regulated for minors, platforms like YouTube and TikTok expose youth to unlimited "drinking mukbang" content that tempts them. On the 29th of last month, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced a revised version of the "Media Drinking Scene Guidelines." Originally created in 2017 to promote a culture of moderate drinking, the guidelines were previously advisory, using terms like "should refrain" and "should be cautious," but the recent revision made them more specific. The new content includes that "content excessively highlighting or glamorizing drinking behavior should restrict access by children and adolescents through age limits and require warning messages."

However, it seems to be already too late. The rate of youth drinking experience (the proportion who drank at least one drink in the past 30 days) increased from 15% in 2020 to 19.5% last year. Youth experts focus on the harmful effects of short-form videos. They point out that short-form drinking mukbangs cause "popcorn brain" symptoms in adolescents, leading to addiction and decreased concentration.

The government should not stop at the "guidelines" but must prepare strong countermeasures. Strengthening regulations on short-form platforms to protect minors is already a global trend. The European Union (EU) recently demanded that YouTube and TikTok submit specific child protection measures against illegal and harmful content. The Korea Communications Commission also announced in its work plan earlier this year that it would enact the "Media Integration Act" to allow the state to manage video platforms, OTTs, and others.

However, only one related forum was held in the National Assembly last September, and there has been no progress throughout this year. Currently, without communication among relevant ministries, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Prime Minister's Office are separately preparing related laws. The government must designate a responsible ministry and systematically prepare policies to protect youth from the side effects of short-form platforms.

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