Game Rating and Administration Committee

Game Rating and Administration Committee
Hangul	게임물관리위원회
Hanja	게임物等級委員會
Revised Romanization	Geimmul Gwalli Wiwonhoe

The Game Rating and Administration Committee (Hangul: 게임물관리위원회; RR: Geimmul Gwalli-Wiwonhoe; GRAC) is the South Korean video game content rating board. A governmental organization, the GRAC rates video games to inform customers of the nature of game contents.

Initially, the Korea Media Rating Board, a governmental organization, rated video games just like other entertainment media. However, a controversy occurred because the Korea Media Rating Board rated an arcade gambling game Sea Story as if it were suitable for everyone, with allegations of misconduct. The Korean government responded to the controversy by creating the GRB in 2006 and making it the only rating organization for rating video games in South Korea.^[1][2][3][4]

GRB has been criticized as one of the elements of the Internet censorship in South Korea.^[5][6][7]

Ratings given

Four rating used by GRB:

ALL	All: Games that everyone can play.

• The content of the game offers educational, or cultivating moral character and sentiments for children
• The content of the game has no representation of anti-societal idea distortion or profanity of religion and public morals that harm children emotionally and physically
• The content and motif of the game have no representation of obscenity, violence, or reproduction of gambling spirit that harms children at all

12	12-year +: Games that children under the age of 12 cannot play unless accompanied by an adult.

• The content of the game has no representation of anti-societal idea, distortion or profanity of religion and public morals that would be harmful to children under 12 emotionally and physically
• The content and motif of the game has no representation of obscenity, violence, reproduction of gambling spirit that would be harmful to children under 12 (slight level of sexuality, violence, improper language(expletives), etc.)

15	15-year +: Games that children and teenagers under the age of 15 cannot play unless accompanied by an adult.

• The content of the game has no representation of anti-societal idea, distortion or profanity of religion and public morals that would be harmful to children under 15 emotionally and physically
• The content and motif of the game have no representation of obscenity, violence, speculation, etc. that would be harmful to children under 15(indirect and restricted representation of sexuality, violence, improper language(expletives) and low level of reproduction of gambling spirit (arousing of passion for excessive use of gaming money, or dependence on one's luck)

18	Teenager and children restricted: Games that teenagers and children (under 18) cannot play.

• The content of the game has representations of anti-societal idea, religion and public morals that would be harmful to children under 18 emotionally and physically.
• The content and motif of the game have representations of obscenity, violence, speculation, etc. that would be harmful to children under 18 (direct and concrete graphical representation of sexuality, violence, improper language(expletives), reproduction of gambling spirit (existence of arousing of passion of excessive use of gaming money, or dependence on one's luck, but no real gaining or loss of one's asset).^[8]

Most video games can be of any rating, though only 'All' and 'Teenager restricted' are permitted for arcade games.

Content descriptors icons

The descriptors are:

• Sexuality
• Violence
• Fear/horror/threatening
• Gambling (betting)
• Alcohol, tobacco, drug
• Language
• Crime, anti-social or anti-governmental messages

See also

• Entertainment Software Rating Board
• Video game content rating system

References

1. Myung Oh; James Larson (14 March 2011). Digital Development in Korea: Building an Information Society. Taylor & Francis. pp. 147–148. ISBN 978-1-136-81313-9.
2. "Sea Story scandal simmers | The Marmot's Hole". Rjkoehler.com. 2006-08-22. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
3. "South Korean PM apologizes for video game controversy". Taipei Times. 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
4. "Blizzard’s rush for cash?". Koreatimes.co.kr. 2011-09-25. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
5. "Censorship in South Korea: Game over". The Economist. 2011-04-14. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
6. "South Korea’s Game Rating Board and The War on Online Content | The Marmot's Hole". Rjkoehler.com. 2010-09-07. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
7. "Korea Blocks Facebook Game Apps". Koreanoodles. 2014-09-02. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
8. "Rating Guide". https://www.grb.or.kr/english/enforcement/ratingguide.aspx. GAME RATING BOARD. Retrieved 2014-09-28. External link in |website= (help)

Website

• GRAC Official Site (Korean)
• GRAC Official Site (English)