“The Korean Game Industry Association has submitted a statement to the World Health Organization (WHO) arguing that classifying gaming disorder with a disease code is inappropriate. The association contends that labeling gaming disorder, whose causes and treatments are unclear, as a disease may cause severe social disruption, highlighting the need for social consensus first.
According to the association on the 12th, they submitted their opinion to the WHO-FIC, a health information collection and analysis platform based on the WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD), stating that the disease classification for gaming disorder is unfounded.
The association emphasized that although gaming disorder is based on specific ‘gaming behavior,’ the ICD-11, which classifies it as a disease, does not define gaming behavior. They also pointed to the uncertainty of whether gaming directly influences ‘problematic behaviors’ that arise from gaming.
The submission also includes questions about fairness, noting that ‘problematic gaming use’ is said to resolve naturally within 1 to 2 years and raises doubts about whether gaming disorder is as dangerous as gambling disorder, which is classified as a disease alongside it.
Classifying a disorder with ambiguous causes and treatment methods as a disease could lead to extreme social chaos, the association argued, and as gaming is a leisure activity enjoyed by many worldwide and is influential in career development, social consensus is necessary first.
Moreover, they pointed out that the classification of gaming disorder could combine with negative societal perceptions of gaming, leading to unreasonable regulatory measures that unfairly limit the freedom of gamers.
While the WHO recommends member states adopt the latest international disease classification system, it does not specify that partial adoption is prohibited. Therefore, the association argues that when controversial disease codes like gaming disorder are included in the ICD, it should be explicitly stated that these can be selectively adopted.”