SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Hyun Ho Eun, Jung-Chull Lee and Dukjoong Na, Kim & Chang
Kim & Chang 39 Sajik-ro 8-gil Jongno-gu
Seoul 03170 South Korea Tel: +82 2 3703 1114 Fax: +82 2 737 9091/9092 Email: lawkim@kimchang.com Web: www.kimchang.com
1. Introduction 1.1 Current Outlook and Recent Changes First, starting 23 October 2025, major overseas pro- viders without a Korean address meeting user and revenue criteria must designate a domestic agent in writing (eg, by entering into a service agreement). Domestic agents handle reporting and disclosure obli- gations regarding games and loot-box item probabili- ties under the Game Industry Promotion Act (GIPA), and violations by agents are attributed to providers. The main legislative intent behind the amendment to the GIPA was to resolve “reverse-discrimination” against domestic game service providers. Specifically, it seeks to address situations where certain overseas game service providers (i) do not comply with the requirement to disclose loot box item probabilities and (ii) do not properly implement user protection meas- ures, such as notice and refund, when officially closing down their game service. Second, the amended GIPA came into effect on 31 January 2025 and now stipulates special litigation provisions between game service providers and game users with respect to claims relating to the game ser- vice providers’ violations of the duty to disclose loot- box item probabilities. The amended GIPA shifts the burden of proof to the game service providers to prove that there was no wilful misconduct or negligence on their part in the alleged violation of the disclosure requirements for loot-box items. The amended GIPA also allows the court to award punitive damages. Furthermore, the Measures to Establish Consumer Sovereignty, which were announced by the relevant government authorities in September 2025, empha-
sised the operation of the punitive damages system (as described above) for violations of the disclosure requirements for loot-box items. Third, in the Korean game industry, there have been a series of legal disputes over potential “plagiarism” of games. Depending on the facts and nature of the dispute, issues such as trade secret infringement, copyright infringement and unfair competition can arise. In 2019, the Korean Supreme Court first rec- ognised copyright infringement between games, but there have been few legal disputes since then. The ongoing cases are expected to present new standards for game IP protection. Fourth, on 14 February 2025, an amendment to the Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Com- merce (the “E-Commerce Act”), which strengthens regulations on dark patterns, went into effect, along with related amendments to the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules of the E-Commerce Act (the “Enforcement Regulations”). The amended E-Com- merce Act sets forth obligations and prohibitions con- cerning six types of dark patterns: • hidden renewals; • gradual disclosure of costs; • pre-selection of purchase options; • false hierarchies; • obstruction of cancellation or withdrawal; and • repeated interference. Violations of these obligations may result in busi- ness suspension for up to 12 months or fines of up to KRW5 million. Recently, the Korea Fair Trade Commis-
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