The Game Culture Foundation will hold the 2026 International Game Culture Symposium at BEXCO in Busan on November 19. Government officials, public institution representatives, and experts from six countries, including South Korea, will gather to discuss gaming policy and culture.
The participating nations are South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Finland, with a 17-member delegation visiting South Korea from the five overseas countries. The event will take place at 1:00 PM on November 19, the opening day of G-STAR 2026, in Rooms 104–105 of the BEXCO Convention Hall under the theme “Game Culture and Policy: Balancing Innovation, Community, and Social Responsibility.”
The program consists of two sessions: Game Policy and Game Culture. Alongside sharing each nation’s industry status and promotion policies, the event will address key current issues such as gaming disorder research, age rating classification, education, and the prevention and treatment of gaming over-indulgence.
In the first session, Game Policy, Deputy Director Lee Ji-eun of the Game Content Industry Division at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will present policy directions for a new leap forward for K-gaming. Muhammad Neil El Himam, Deputy Director for Digital and Technological Creativity at Indonesia’s Ministry of Creative Economy, will introduce Indonesia’s gaming ecosystem. Amir Azlan bin Sapuan, Head of Games and Media at the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, will explain Malaysia’s gaming policy as a regional game development hub.
Presentations from Thailand and Vietnam will focus on industry status, policy, management, and development strategies. Sithon Kulradathon, Acting Vice President of Thailand’s Digital Economy Promotion Agency, will present on the current state of Thailand’s gaming industry and key promotion policies, while Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen, Deputy Director General of the Authority of Broadcasting, Television and Electronic Information under Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, will introduce Vietnam’s market status along with management and development plans. Professor Veli-Matti Karhulahti of the University of Jyväskylä in Finland will share recent research findings on the evolution of gaming disorder.
In the second session, Game Culture, Lee Seung-hoon, Chairman of the Game Content Rating Board (GCRB), will examine the status and challenges regarding the private transfer of game rating classification. Lee Jae-ho, President of the Korean Association of Creative Information Culture, will present on the direction of game literacy education beyond intelligence in the AI era. Kang Kyung-doo, Director of the MBI MOVE Child Development Center, will discuss practical cases and the understanding of physical activity for preventing and treating gaming over-indulgence.
Simultaneous Korean-English interpretation will be provided for all presentations, and attendance is open to anyone. The event will also host a commendation ceremony for individuals who have contributed to the prevention and treatment of gaming over-indulgence, as well as the awards ceremony for the 5th Game Generation Game Critique Contest.
The event is hosted by the Game Culture Foundation and co-organized by the Game Over-Indulgence Healing Center, Game Content Rating Board, Game User Protection Center, Seongnam Game Healing Center, Game Science Research Institute, and Game Culture Education Center. Sponsors include the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC), Tencent, NHN, Nexon Korea, Netmarble, NCSoft, and Neowiz.
Yoo Byung-han, Chairman of the Game Culture Foundation, said, “This symposium will be a venue to share the current state of gaming policies and culture in each nation and explore cooperation for the development of gaming. We hope for great interest and participation in this event, which will open up new possibilities for information exchange and collaboration.”
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