Abstract
The Korean Government was the first in the world to develop a national policy to tackle the problem of Internet addiction. For this reason, it has received global attention. To combat the problem of Internet addiction, Korea has established specific laws and systems; a governance system is administrated in government offices, and a “master plan” (revised at three year intervals) has been developed. In addition to these measures, many practical spheres of counseling and treatment have also been established. Examples of Korea’s efforts to tackle the problem of Internet addiction include the development of the evaluation scale for Internet addiction, an extensive counseling program, and treatment systems linked to hospital care. This study comprehensively outlines Korea’s national policy on Internet addiction.
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Notes
- 1.
The 1997 Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that affected much of East Asia, including Korea. As a means to stabilize the currencies, the Korean government received a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), under the condition that it tighten its financial and fiscal policies, implement a policy for opening to foreign investment, restructure its financial sector and companies, and improve corporate transparency. Moreover, the Korean government stimulated the information industry for an economic revival. In other words, the ICT promotion policy of Korea was used as a tool to revitalize the economy.
- 2.
Informatization involves establishing communication infrastructure, introducing information technology in the manufacturing sector to enhance productivity, and industrializing games and computer software as a means to become an information-based society.
- 3.
The various sub-categories of Internet addiction are differentially explained. For example Kimberly S. Young categorizes Internet addiction as computer game addiction, information overload, network obsessive compulsion, cyber relationship addiction, cybersex addiction, and so on (Young 1998). Davis (2001a, b) used the terminology, ‘Pathological Internet Use,’ instead of ‘Internet addiction’ and classified PIU into two types: namely, generalized PIU and specific PIU. Generalized PIU occurs due to the nature of Internet itself such as the anonymity of cyber space, convenience of use, communication speed, immediate response of the Internet, etc. Meanwhile, it is worth acknowledging the influence of gaming and content. Many individuals are severely addicted to computer games, due to game-specific features, such as high levels of stimulation, fantasy etc. Among online games, Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPGs) act like an ‘emergency exit from reality’ for those who cannot adapt and socialize. Recently, Montag et al. (2014) found empirically that there is distinction between specific (such as online video gaming, online shopping, online social networking, and use of online pornography) and generalized Internet addiction, as proposed by Davis (2001a). However there was a large correlation between addiction to online social networks (such as Facebook in Germany and Taiwan or QZone in China) and generalized Internet addiction. In Korea, the categories are drawn from practical counseling experience and comprise online game addiction, online obscene materials addiction, online search addiction, online community addiction, online chatting addiction etc.
- 4.
The ICT promotion policy is a national policy implemented to create advanced wired and wireless communication networks for the rapid exchange of information, as well as to establish an e-government, utilize big data, stimulate the software industry, develop the digital contents industry, mitigate the digital divide, and create a sound online culture. The Internet addiction response policy tends to work against the ICT policy, and thus, the latter policy must include the necessary countermeasures.
- 5.
Many minors currently use the identification numbers of their parents and other adults to play games after midnight. Also, this system does not apply to game sites with overseas servers and smartphone games.
- 6.
Guardians of adolescents below the age of 18 can access the homepage of a game that they want to prohibit and demand from the game company technological measures that prevent access to the game from the guardian’s home.
- 7.
The validity and reliability of K-Scale have been supported through the following psychometric measures: (1) Process of the preliminary test: developed the preliminary questions for the survey (110 questions), conducted the preliminary survey (300 subjects), analyzed the questions (test reliability: 0.97), and extracted the questions for the actual survey (64 questions); (2) Process of standardization: conducted a nationwide sampling survey (2,000 subjects), analyzed the questions (test reliability: 0.96), extracted the final questions (40 questions), computed the cut-off score (70T, 63T), and classified the resulting groups (high risk group, potential risk group, non-risk group); (3) Process of validation: conducted a validation study (2,781 subjects), verified the difference among the resulting groups, and verified the model fit (x2 = 17,211.828, df = 719, p = 0.000; GFI = 0.901, AGFI = 0.887; NFI = 0.887, NNFI = 0.871; RMSEA = 0.05). For more details, refer to the copy of the English summary available at http://www.iapc.or.kr.
- 8.
Meanwhile, as more people spend an increasing amount of time using their smartphones, a separate screening scale for smartphones users—the smartphone K-Scale—has been developed and is also being employed. The correlation coefficient of this scale and the K-Scale for youth is r = 0.67 (p < 0.001).
- 9.
- 10.
On the K-Scale, individuals at a risk of developing Internet addiction are classified into either a high-risk group or a potential risk group. Individuals in the high-risk group exhibit problems associated with mental health resulting from excessive gaming such as anxiety and hostility, and require professional treatment, as they cannot exert self-control. On the other hand, individuals in the potential risk group exhibit similar problems albeit to a lesser extent, but still require professional counseling.
- 11.
A study under the title, “A Validation Study of K-Scale as a Diagnostic Tool,” has already been conducted. There are plans to publish this study in an international academic journal.
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Koh, YS. (2015). The Korean National Policy for Internet Addiction. In: Montag, C., Reuter, M. (eds) Internet Addiction. Studies in Neuroscience, Psychology and Behavioral Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07242-5_13
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