The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism says it is opposed to the adoption of new World Health Organization(WHO) guidelines that categorize game addiction as a disease. 

Last Saturday in Geneva, the WHO added gaming disorders to its 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases(ICD).

The head of the culture ministry’s Game Content Industry Division, Park Seung-beom, told Seoul-based Yonhap News on Monday that Korea plans to contest the categorization, arguing that the decision was made without acceptable scientific evidence.  

He added that even if the revised classification goes into effect as scheduled on January 1, 2022, sufficient social consensus would be needed to apply the new ICD in South Korea. 

The culture ministry’s stance is expected to cause controversy as it is in contrast with the one taken by the Health and Welfare Ministry, which announced on Sunday that it would take the necessary steps to recognize the WHO’s decision to label gaming disorder as a disease.