Representative Kim Seung-soo of the People Power Party (Senior Deputy Floor Leader) visited the Korea Association of Game Industry (K-GAMES) booth participating in the National Assembly Legislative Expo on November 6. After discussing the current status and development plans for regional small and medium-sized game studios with association officials, Senior Deputy Floor Leader Kim said, "We will thoroughly examine the '5 Major Legislative Tasks for the Leap of the Game Industry' and ensure that the People Power Party shows great interest."
The Senior Deputy Floor Leader assists the Floor Leader in overseeing practical negotiations between ruling and opposition parties. Senior Deputy Floor Leader Kim assumed the role in June when Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik's leadership team launched. For a bill to pass through standing committees and reach the plenary session, it must undergo negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties. As such, having the key official in charge of negotiations mention party-level interest broadens the opportunity for the association's agenda to reach the floor discussion table.
Senior Deputy Floor Leader Kim is a two-term lawmaker representing Buk-gu B district in Daegu, and has also served as chairman of the People Power Party's Daegu City Chapter since September. Game studios from Daegu and Gyeongbuk were also featured in the regional small and medium-sized game studio hands-on zone organized by K-GAMES at its booth. In the hands-on zone, 12 companies from North Chungcheong, South Chungcheong, Daejeon, North Jeolla, Gyeongbuk, and Daegu presented 12 games.
This is not Senior Deputy Floor Leader Kim's first point of contact with the gaming industry. He previously served as the People Power Party ranking member on the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee during the 21st National Assembly. Prior to this, he also attended the "Daegu-Gyeongbuk Regional On-Site Communication Exchange for Game Industry Development" held by K-GAMES at the Daegu Content Business Center. At the time, serving as co-chair of the National Assembly Game Policy Forum and a member of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, he stated that he would make efforts toward legislation and securing budgets, including stipulating explicit support clauses for regional game companies.
The initiative proposed by K-GAMES at this expo to establish a legal framework for promoting regional game industries encompasses these points. It calls for explicitly specifying in the Game Industry Promotion Act the duties of the state and local governments, the support tasks of regional promotion agencies, and the legal grounds for financial support.
The top priority task put forward by K-GAMES is the introduction of a tax credit for game content production costs. This is a demand to extend the production cost tax credit currently provided to films, TV dramas, OTT video content, and webtoons to games as well. Along with this, the association proposed improving regulations on in-game promotional prizes, revising the identity verification requirement for games rated for all ages, and abolishing the optional gaming hour system.
This year marks the first time K-GAMES has participated in the Legislative Expo. Now in its second year, the National Assembly Legislative Expo concludes on November 6 at the National Assembly Central Lawn Plaza.
