The Government Complex Seoul is MOGEF's home ground.
Even a stray dog fights best on its home turf, as the saying goes. Therefore, entering this place was no different from walking into the heart of enemy territory.
The air was thicker than ever with tension and a sense of grim resolve.
My concern wasn't so much about winning the debate, but whether I could return home safely. Suddenly, I missed my mother and Ellie.
Various groups had already gathered in front of the government complex. Some were affiliated with MOGEF, others were private organizations. Banners fluttered in the air.
[Strengthen Game Regulation!]
[500 Crimes Per Year Due to Games!]
[Playing Killing Games Turns You into a Murderer!]
[Gaming Lowers Grades and Destroys the Brain!]
[Parents Demand It! Implement Strong Game Regulation Immediately!]
In front of them, the president of the 'Moms Raising Kids Safely Group,' nicknamed 'Anaki,' shouted through a megaphone.
"When my child comes home from school, he doesn't eat, doesn't study, only plays games! He plays PC games on the computer, mobile games on his phone, and console games in front of the TV! If I try to stop him, he screams and rebels! My child, who never even watched porn and only knew studying! Games ruined him!"
Watching from the car, Taek-gyu remarked,
"He's got the makings of a great pro gamer."
Surprisingly, on the opposite side, game companies had set up small booths, and gamers had gathered in front of them.
There were nearly a thousand of them!
In South Korea, where protests can draw hundreds of thousands, this might not seem like much, but it's rare for gamers to gather in such numbers.
They were all there to cheer us on as we headed into MOGEF... well, not really. They had simply flocked there because they heard limited-edition costume coupons were being given out.
I'd heard about the event, but I hadn't expected it to be this effective!
They weren't exactly chanting slogans or cheering, but seeing them gathered there felt somehow reassuring.
***
We entered the forum hall.
It was originally an auditorium, but the layout had been changed for the debate. Numerous people were already inside. On the right side of the debate table sat four people, including Minister Shin Jeon-mi, with the moderator in the center.
The moderator apparently specialized in MCing various MOGEF-hosted forums, so it was safe to assume he was on their side.
And in the audience seats sat about 30 parents and people from related organizations.
The game regulation issue had garnered intense interest since OTK Company got involved. Consequently, press members permitted by MOGEF were also present.
To accommodate Taek-gyu, who disliked showing his face publicly, the camera angle was set diagonally so that only his voice would be heard.
Unlike my fearful self, Taek-gyu looked completely unfazed. Having him next to me was somewhat comforting.
Before starting the debate, we exchanged greetings.
The moderator announced,
"We will now begin the 'Forum on Healthy Use of Internet Games by Youth and Treatment of Game Addiction'."
The first to speak was Min Hak-gyu, president of the National Alliance for Youth Health. He was the only male member on the MOGEF side.
He listed the problems with games.
"...As such, the addictiveness and gambling-like elements of games are severe. Look at Kangwon Land [Korea's main local-accessible casino]. It is operated under strict government regulation. So why is there such opposition to game regulation?"
I was already dumbfounded from the start.
"Are games and gambling the same thing?"
He replied as if it were obvious,
"Their essence is the same. Both are included in the 'Big 4 Addictions,' and there's research showing that game addicts' brains are identical to gambling addicts' brains."
Gambling itself creates no added value. Wealth merely transfers from one side to the other based on card numbers. If possible, it would be best to eliminate it entirely, but since that's difficult, things like horse racing, cycle racing, and casinos are operated under strict government management.
However, gaming is an industry that creates immense added value. That's why many countries strive to foster their game industries.
If they view games and gambling as identical from the outset, is there even a point to this debate?
"There's also research showing that playing a lot of games reduces sperm count."
"...Excuse me?"
That was easily among the top three most shocking things I'd ever heard.
Taek-gyu looked aggrieved.
"Seriously? Just playing some games can make you impotent or infertile?"
"This is the result of research by a reliable scholar in Japan. Playing games extensively causes the frontal lobe to degenerate and cognitive abilities to decline. Furthermore, the brain changes resemble that of a dementia patient, increasing violence and murderous impulses. A book detailing this research has even been published in Japan."
If this were true, it would be Nobel Prize-worthy... but of course, it was nonsense, and the book was treated as trash even within Japan. Yet, it had crossed over to Korea and was being used to justify game regulation.
"So, does that mean all pro gamers have damaged brains?"
At Taek-gyu's question, Director Min Hak-gyu nodded.
"That's correct. They are just professionally trained, so they last a bit longer. Statistics show that pro gamers who are still students have lower academic performance than other students. This is proof that their brains have problems."
"..."
Isn't it stranger if grades don't drop when juggling a pro gaming career and academics?
I asked him,
"So, is your main point right now that games lower grades or that they cause murder?"
"Both. You know about the recent Yongcheon-dong PC bang murder case, right? The suspect, Kim Jeong-su, was found to have played online games for five hours before committing the murder. How can you still say there's no link between games and violence?"
Taek-gyu countered,
"Go into any PC bang right now, and you'll find many people who have played for over five hours. They don't all commit murder, do they?"
"There are also statistics showing that 25 percent of perpetrators in US school shooting incidents regularly played FPS games!"
I don't know how they conducted the survey, but the statistic probably wasn't wrong.
Because...
"Actually, 25 percent of adolescents normally play FPS games. By that logic, there are also statistics showing that 99.99 percent of adolescents who regularly play FPS games do not commit school shootings."
He snapped irritably,
"This isn't about playing word games."
Even a debate between conservatives and progressives probably wouldn't run on such parallel, non-intersecting lines.
Taek-gyu offered a rebuttal.
"There are plenty of students who play games and still do well enough in their studies to get into top universities!"
Director Min Hak-gyu shook his head firmly.
"No. Not a single student like that exists."
Taek-gyu looked like he'd caught him.
"That statement is very easy to refute."
He quickly pointed at me.
"This guy right here played online games with me all the time at PC bangs."
"..."
Why drag me into this?
The parents in the audience murmured slightly. Everyone knew I was a graduate of Korea University's Business School.
Isn't sending your child to Korea University every parent's dream?
I spoke calmly.
"I didn't graduate from a top-tier high school, nor did I receive much private tutoring. Nevertheless, as you all know, I entered Korea University's Business School. The reason is that when I got tired of studying, I relieved stress through gaming."
Although the real reason was that I quit games and studied like crazy from my second year of high school, I decided not to mention that.
For the record, while I didn't have private tutors, I did diligently attend cram schools. How many people really get into Korea University just with textbooks and EBS [Educational Broadcasting System]?
"While in university, I often went to PC bangs with my classmates and seniors to play battle games. There aren't many Korea University students who can't play games."
Though we lost all our team matches against kids from other universities, I decided not to mention that either. It did seem like the lower the university's admission cutoff, the better they were at games.
The parents listened attentively to my words.
The 'prestigious university' title really had an effect! No wonder everyone makes such a fuss about Korea University.
Director Min Hak-gyu was flustered. Having someone who played games and went to Korea University right in front of him undermined his logic.
Flustered, he pointed a finger at Taek-gyu and shouted.
"But Vice President, who played games with him, didn't even go to college!"
Taek-gyu, without changing his expression, bluffed.
"That's because I was set on entrepreneurship. Rather than dropping out of Harvard like Bill Gates to start a company, I thought it better just to start one directly. I nurtured my entrepreneurial dream while playing games. Kang Jin-hoo getting into Korea University, the creation of OTK Company – it's all thanks to games!"
Director Min Hak-gyu yelled back.
"Don't lie!"
I chimed in.
"Even Facenote CEO Mike Goldenberg said that if he hadn't played games, he wouldn't have been able to start Facenote."
He actually did say something like that. Though he himself went to Harvard. Seems like successful people succeed no matter what.
With Director Min Hak-gyu defeated, lawyer Park Hye-ji stepped forward.
She was the representative attorney of Ze Law Firm, a former legal advisor for Heo Chang-min's presidential campaign, and currently served as a consulting attorney for the Gender Equality Promotion Institute.
She stated in a strong tone,
"It's true that the majority of people who play games don't commit crimes. But should we think of them as separate from the criminals? I believe that's a perspective that fails to see the society as a whole."
I asked, dumbfounded,
"What is this, guilt by association ?"
"Then why do we demand apologies from Japan? Japan's current generation are not war criminals. So why do we demand apologies from Japan now?"
I resisted the urge to scream.
Why on earth is Japan being brought into this?
"If the current generation of Japan apologizes and reflects on the actions of the war criminals, we can't keep chasing them down and calling them bad, can we? Similarly, the vast majority of gamers do not condone criminals, so why should they be blamed?"
"We must look at society as a whole. Can we just pick out this one part of what we see in reality and say it's not true? Look at Kim Jeong-su standing before the press line, making excuses."
"He's a criminal, isn't he?"
"Are he and other gamers completely unrelated?"
"Then what is the relation?"
"They played the same game."
"We don't say anything to students from the same school, people who ate at the same restaurant, or people living in the same building, we don't even blame the families. Why should people who play the same game bear collective responsibility?"
"Obviously, because the game is the problem."
Before I could rebut, she brought up another topic.
"Let's look at another issue. According to a recent survey, gender discrimination and misogyny within games have reached serious levels."
"Wasn't this forum supposed to be about discussing game addiction and regulation?"
The moderator interjected,
"This issue is also included in this discussion. Please continue."
I looked through the discussion materials.
Indeed, on the question about gender discrimination in games, over 80 percent of respondents answered 'severe' or 'very severe'.
"Where was this survey conducted?"
"It was conducted at Sungduk Women's University."
"...So the survey subjects were naturally all women?"
I wasn't even surprised anymore.
Lawyer Park Hye-ji didn't even pretend to listen to me and continued.
"Let's take Warclass for example. The game characters appearing here are all male, and the female characters are mainly confined to supporting roles."
Warclass was a currently popular mobile game.
Taek-gyu blinked and said,
"That's a war game, isn't it? It's set in Roman times, and it's just about fighting wars with soldiers."
"Exactly! Making a game like this where women cannot play active roles is gender discrimination."
Without losing my composure, I asked calmly,
"Why is achieving a 50/50 ratio for those game characters important?"
"Why is 50/50 important, you ask? The problem and complaint we have is that the proportion of female game characters is too low."
"What's good about the female proportion being higher?"
"Because the low proportion is the problem, raising that proportion solves our problem."
"Is being low inherently the problem itself?"
"Yes. That itself is the problem."
"..."
What kind of cause-and-effect relationship is this?
"Half the world is female. Yet, the fact that women are fewer among game characters reflects the class structure."
"So should the Roman and Carthaginian soldiers appearing in the game also be revised to be half male, half female?"
"Those are lower-ranking positions. I don't think it's necessary to make characters with relatively lower social status gender-equal. You can put in whichever characters you want. We're saying that high-ranking and important characters, like commanders, should be matched to be gender-equal."
"..."
Am I the only one who doesn't understand this?
Actually, it seemed only Taek-gyu and I didn't get it. The other participants looked like they agreed with lawyer Park Hye-ji.
She said triumphantly,
"As you can see, the issue of gender discrimination in games is severe. Therefore, it's necessary for MOGEF to have regulatory authority and resolve this problem."
I gave up trying to understand further.
"Alright. I understand. But speaking of which, Ms. Park, your law firm, Ze Law Firm, has a total of six lawyers. Excluding yourself, the representative, there is one female lawyer, and the remaining four are male lawyers. Ultimately, four out of five are men, which is 80 percent by ratio. You've been arguing since earlier that the ratio of high-ranking characters in games should be gender-equal. Why then, Ms. Park Hye-ji, have you set the gender ratio in your firm at 8-to-2 male? Could it be that you only pay lip service to gender equality, while actually discriminating based on gender and harboring misogyny yourself?"
Hitting a nerve, she became flustered.
"Wh-what did you say? Why are you only talking about the lawyers? Among the general staff, there are more women..."
Taek-gyu chimed in excitedly,
"Lower-ranking positions don't matter! In fields with relatively lower social status, there's no need for gender equality, you can just hire whoever you want. But you insisted that high-ranking positions like lawyers must absolutely be gender-equal, right?"
"Th-that's..."
Frantically trying to think of an excuse, but apparently unable to find a suitable one, she abruptly stood up and shouted.
"Did you conduct a background check on me!?"
I replied nonchalantly.
"It was listed right on your homepage."
"Going onto someone else's company homepage is a background check! I will sue you!"
It seems she likes doing things by the book, typical lawyer.
I nodded.
"Yes. Please sue."