Entertainment
Ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker Park Chang-shik, who is a member of the Education, Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee of the National Assembly, pointed out on Sept. 16 that the number of people working in the domestic game industry increased from 92,533 to 95,051 between 2009 and 2012, but dropped to 91,893 in 2013, when its growth rate turned negative.
[[{"fid":"12825","view_mode":"body_image_left","fields":{"format":"body_image_left","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"The number of workers in the gaming industry has been on the decline.","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"type":"media","link_text":null,"attributes":{"alt":"The number of workers in the gaming industry has been on the decline.","height":450,"width":450,"class":"media-element file-body-image-left"}}]]“The number of businesses in the industry continued to decline as well, from 30,535 to 20,658, 17,344, 16,189, and 15,078 between 2009 and 2013,” he said, adding, “At the same time, the added value of the industry fell by half of a percent, from 4.568 trillion won [US$3.899 billion], between 2012 and 2013, and the industry, which recorded an annual growth rate of at least 10 percent for years from 2008, is predicted to remain in the doldrums for the time being.”
He also explained that more and more Korean game developers are going abroad in order to avoid strict regulations and benefit from a variety of policy measures for the promotion of the game industry. “Even though the government said that it would concentrate on the growth of the game industry, it seems that the reality is far from what it promised,” he continued.