Korea Assembly Passes Game Act Amendment on Overseas Firms

South Korea's National Assembly passed an amendment to the Game Industry Act that strengthens obligations for overseas game companies to designate a domestic representative in the country, according to inews24.com. The amendment also adds new user protection and data submission requirements.

The amendment adds an obligation for game-related businesses to protect domestic users from harm and handle their complaints. It also establishes a legal basis for the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism or the Chairperson of the Game Rating and Administration Committee to request data from game-related businesses.

Businesses that fail to submit data without a justified reason or submit false data may face fines of up to 10 million won.

Under the amendment, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism may order information and communication service providers or bulletin board operators to refuse, suspend, or restrict handling of a game or its advertisements if a corrective order over probability information disclosure violations is not fulfilled.

The amendment introduces priority designation of domestic corporations meeting certain requirements as domestic representatives, along with obligations for overseas businesses to educate, manage, supervise, and maintain such designations. The law takes effect six months after promulgation.

Prior penalty framework

Previously, failing to comply with a corrective order over probability information disclosure violations could result in up to 2 years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won, as reported in October 2025.