Korea lifts game censorship

Ghost Recon 2 and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory to get Korean release as bans on titles are lifted.

Game censorship is something of a hot topic right now, with many countries seeking stronger control over the content of games. At the top end of the scale, this includes Germany, which is currently debating drastic measures, among them fines and imprisonment for those who commit "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters."

In Europe, horror game Rule of Rose caused a furore when the mayor of Rome called for the game to be banned, stating that "this game must not enter Italian homes." 505 Games pulled the European release in response to the controversy.

Likewise, in the US, activist lawyer Jack Thompson protested against Rockstar Games' Bully, calling for it to be banned. However, Miami Judge Ronald Friedman approved the game, and the title was released as planned.

In South Korea, things seem to be moving in the opposite direction. Games which depict military and political actions against North Korea have previously been deemed to be too touchy with the current political situation between the two Koreas, and such titles have therefore not been released in South Korea. These include Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, and Mercenaries.

However, The Game Rating Board of Korea has announced that it will lift the ban and those games will be available in 2007. According to a report in The Korea Times, Kim Key-man, the head of the Rating Board, said that this will come after "careful review of their contents." The reasoning behind the decision was said to be "to allow freedom of expression."

205 Comments

  • remaGloohcSdlO

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 12:59 am PT

    Prudes... those games ar fine! (first again?)

  • Generic_Dude

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 1:01 am PT

    I'll guess that North Korea is keeping the bans? But anyhow, good for South Korea. Let freedom ring.

  • linkthewindow

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 1:09 am PT

    Im waiting for NK to approve "freedom of expression" lol

  • Vyse86

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 1:13 am PT

    Well, Mercenaries did feature the two Korea's warring a fair bit so it makes sense why it wasn't allowed for so long.

  • mr_ackman

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 1:15 am PT

    who cares??? USA ALL THE WAY!!!

  • diablobasher

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 1:18 am PT

    Those bans i can understand. Just about. So while it is good they are being lifted and im happy that many koreans will be able to play those games, it's kinda ironic that the ban actually had legitimate foothold, and is being lifted, while places like germany and australia have their rediculous psudo-bans for reasons that make little sense to any logical human mind.

    Oh well. Go Korea.

  • SephirothSyZtem

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 1:20 am PT

    Very nice. Enjoy These U.S.A games baby.

    i didnt.......

  • matthewjackman

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 1:41 am PT

    Quite a brave move really. N.Korea can get touchy about the least of things and when your capital city is that close to the largest army in the world....well game censorship seems a trivial matter in comparison.

  • kenerhai

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 1:59 am PT

    sometimes the truth hurts korea, and when an ugly peice of a countries history or culture is displayed in some sort of medium, be it true or fictitious, dosnt mean it needs to be banned. shouldnt it lead to a little self awareness of your nation and its state of affairs. of course a country is only a country after all and politicians make the rules, but in my opinion, why cant germany and korea just take a look at those kind of games and take them at face value. in germanys case, so wolfenstein and ww2 games are about killing german nazis? shouldnt germans look at that and say that its a good way for germans to look at the past atrocities and say it was a bad time controlled by a horrible dictator, but it did happen. that cant be changed. but to just ignore it and punish german citizens for fictitiously killing a peice of their past?
    and for koreans, well if people are so offended by the material of the games then they wont buy them. so whats the harm?! so they should release those games and spread true freedom, not harber communist ideas.
    besides we need more korean games over stateside. every manga and game ive seen from korea always has an incredible art style that makes any japanese manga or anime look like picasso.

  • scarytiger

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 2:31 am PT

    united kingdom FTW!!

  • passentry

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 2:48 am PT

    kenerhai, you're thinking of North Korea... GameSpot is reporting on South Korea... the South isn't communist.

  • Dante200X

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 3:25 am PT

    I'll guess that North Korea is keeping the bans? But anyhow, good for South Korea. Let freedom ring.

    NORTH KOREA DOESN"T EVEN ALLOW GAMES!!!

    lol, i don't know if they do or not, but i think you mean "freedom REIGN"

    hahah, ring

  • Dolacide

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 3:33 am PT

    Great to see.

  • EddyG0RD0

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 3:53 am PT

    they banned all games?

  • Cloud737

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 4:06 am PT

    Finally, it seems like things are starting to move in the right direction. I hope other countries will follow this example, or else they will be the ones to suffer in the end.

  • Cloud737

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 4:11 am PT

    Finally, it seems like things are starting to move in the right direction. I hope other countries will follow this example, or else they will be the ones to suffer in the end.

  • NnyCW

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 4:16 am PT

    GameSpot is reporting on South Korea... the South isn't communist.

    Neither is the North. No country has been communist, ever. Communism is an impossibility.

  • Conor_220

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 4:32 am PT

    Well I didn't disagree with S. Korea's decision to ban it because its true that they don't need any more political disruptions between them and the north. F&%@ingcommunists.

  • tonis125

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 4:57 am PT

    i think people in Germany r over reacting. if i was in germany i could be convicted as a serial killer.

  • Toadstool1969

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 5:12 am PT

    NnyCW wrote:
    GameSpot is reporting on South Korea... the South isn't communist.

    Neither is the North. No country has been communist, ever. Communism is an impossibility.


    So is a pure democracy for that matter... or even Rebublic. But we come pretty close. And, I'd argue, they come pretty close too.

  • therealsarsi

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 5:29 am PT

    woot. yay for south korea...

  • starcutter20000

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 6:17 am PT

    noww if only they could get games in north korea...

  • TWOC2689

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 6:17 am PT

    This is not just Incredible but also politically important.

  • iMuffins

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 6:25 am PT

    That's nice, one of my friends is an exchange student from Korea. He'll be quite pleased to hear this =P

  • Poshkidney

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 6:27 am PT

    at least someone see's that censorship needs to be relaxed more having more censorship make every one think that every thing needs to be banned. Censorship works in chain's one person want's spmething banned and a onther then thinks if this getting banned i want this banned.
    censorship does more harm than good

  • Anti_Chaos

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 6:45 am PT

    Good for them! I agree with Poshkidney and Cloud737.

  • TheFoXxxxy

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 6:47 am PT

    Censorship=bad...but does S. Korea play console games anyway?

  • xatman911

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 7:02 am PT

    Go Korea. Revoultionise gaming. There are some people who should be shot down in world government for speaking against gaming. Why dont they understand that a game is just a game. Its not going to affect real life in anyway. Gaming world is something that we can escape to, to rid ourself from stress and pressure of the real world. Just like alcohol (only as an example) is used to get rid of memories. So why dont they ban alchol. They dont because they enjoy it just like we enjoy gaming. I wish government could drop gaming issues and focus on more important things such as poverty, quality of life and medicine.

  • Drofd21

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 7:20 am PT

    Freedom ftw

  • ocdog45

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 7:44 am PT

    good for those guys

  • Re_ensurer

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 8:06 am PT

    Ah yes, Rule of Rose.

  • Real720

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 8:19 am PT

    South Korea all the way!!!! And Btw, I myself am South Korean.

  • GoldenSilence87

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 8:30 am PT

    Go Korea!

  • GeneralXiahou

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 8:36 am PT

    FREEDOM FOR GAMING!!!

  • Gmacrusher

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 8:44 am PT

    Well this sucks for those places that didn't get to play good games..good thing we live in America on were we have the freedom to do stuff and such..aww well they'll get to play then soon so don't worry!

  • CheddarLimbo

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 8:47 am PT

    NnyCW
    GameSpot is reporting on South Korea... the South isn't communist.

    Neither is the North. No country has been communist, ever. Communism is an impossibility. ------------------

    You're just nit-picking the issue. They have a Communist system of government. There are no absolutes, but the standards by which their government is run are Communist in nature.

  • peeviness

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 8:50 am PT

    Wow.. go Korea!

  • firestorm91

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 8:50 am PT

    Video games are video games, what you do in them dosen't make a difference in the real world. If you kill someone in a video game, you really didn't end someone's life. Freedom for gaming!!!!

  • bulletsword

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 9:11 am PT

    ...And Japan is still the best...

  • diminiansk8er

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 9:35 am PT

    Im wondering how Freedom of Expression will work in a Communist area.... And CheddarLimbo, They may not fit into True Communism, but they are STILL Communist. look up the deffinition and compare and contrast Korea to Communism. Even though they may not have the same views at certain points that doesnt negate them from the label of having a Communist government.

  • hankypanky9000

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 9:41 am PT

    "Im wondering how Freedom of Expression will work in a Communist area.... And CheddarLimbo, They may not fit into True Communism, but they are STILL Communist. look up the deffinition and compare and contrast Korea to Communism. Even though they may not have the same views at certain points that doesnt negate them from the label of having a Communist government. "
    no, south korea is one of the biggest capitalist countries. north korea is out and out communist.

  • GMAN32X

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 9:45 am PT

    This is definitely a step in the right direction. The more freedom that South Koreans have, the better. Hopefully the North will eventually follow suit in our lifetimes.

  • Invidia_Seputus

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 9:54 am PT

    Dante200x

    lol, i don't know if they do or not, but i think you mean "freedom REIGN"
    hahah, ring     Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrims' pride, From every mountainside Let freedom ring!?

    Seriously, America (My Country 'Tis of Thee) has been around for almost two centuries. Way to go. =/

  • EmryKinney

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 10:01 am PT

    In Germany they banned people from dieing in CounterStrike. Instead they must sit down in a crosslegged position XP. (It isn't 100% off subject they did mention the european market.)

  • gr8arm

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 10:10 am PT

    Hmm...can't have a game that contains human-looking characters dieing in Germany. But German feces videos, now that's perfectly acceptable.

  • premanna

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 10:20 am PT

    COOL

  • WelshPrince

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 10:25 am PT

    Dying..

  • Cubb7

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 10:28 am PT

    Crazy.

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