In 2018, WHO announced the newest international disease classification, ICD-11. It was very controversial because this also included gaming disorder. The ICD is an international guideline that contains all types of disease and diagnostic methods. It is a key indicator of health and medical policies not only in South Korea but also around the world. If this agenda passes World Health Assembly, which is held on May, gaming disorder will be treated as a disease.

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This draft about gaming disorder was criticized by many experts of game related industry. The main reasons for this are the lack of scientific grounds and insufficient research. "After introducing the concept of game addiction medicalization, the nonmedical problem has become a medical problem," said Yoon Tae-jin a professor at Yonsei University.

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Also, on April 29th, a talk was held to analyze the problem of a process during a disease registry of gaming disease and to give a balanced view about game addiction. "There is a stark disagreement among scholars about the World Health Organization's attempt to codify gaming disorder, and there is also a potential danger," Christopher J. Ferguson, a professor from psychology department said. This includes overlooking at the mental-psychological problems behind playing games, proposing expensive treatments to make money only, or being left with a stain on the grounds of playing games and constrained by freedom and expression. Medicalization has three aspects. The first one is the clinical side. It has become useful to solve problems from a medical perspective. The second one is the social aspect, the tendency to rely on exclusive experts to solve problems. The last one is the economic aspect, the commercialization of all problems caused by capitalism.

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June, 15th, 2019

By Bak Jeong-heon