On Monday, February 16, 2026, in the morning, an international lecture titled “Addressing Internet and Gaming Addiction in South Korea: A Public Health and Clinical Perspective” was held at the School of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University (KUSPH). Approximately 30 students and faculty members participated in this hybrid session. The guest speaker was Prof. Hae Kook Lee, Professor of Psychiatry at the Catholic University of Korea, who introduced a comprehensive public health framework for understanding and addressing digital media addiction among adolescents in South Korea.

Prof. Lee began by highlighting adolescence as a critical yet vulnerable developmental stage. Drawing on international statistics from organizations such as UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union, he showed that internet use among adolescents has reached nearly universal levels in many developed regions. He emphasized that digital media use exists along a continuum, from healthy engagement to problematic or addictive use, and that excessive exposure may contribute to cyberbullying, body image concerns, impulsivity, and reduced cognitive capacity.

The lecture then moved to clinical conceptualization. Prof. Lee explained that Gaming Disorder is formally recognized in the World Health Organization’s ICD-11 as a disorder due to addictive behaviors. He underscored a key conceptual shift: diagnosis is based on impaired control, increasing priority given to gaming, continuation despite negative consequences, and clinically significant functional impairment. When strictly applied, the expected prevalence is approximately 1–2%, countering concerns about over-pathologizing youth.

A major focus of the lecture was South Korea’s phased policy response. Since the late 1990s, multiple ministries have implemented school-based screening, residential treatment camps, national prevention centers, and regulatory measures such as the former “shutdown system.” More recently, policy attention has expanded to smartphone overdependence and social media platform regulation. In August 2025, South Korea passed legislation prohibiting smartphone use during class hours in primary, middle, and high schools, reflecting growing international trends toward school-based digital regulation.

Prof. Lee also introduced a tailored treatment framework based on a three-pathway model—behaviorally conditioned, emotionally vulnerable, and impulsive pathways—each requiring differentiated intervention strategies. Building on this, he presented the Korean System of Care Model for Digital Media (K-SOC-DM), an integrated, community-based approach combining multidisciplinary assessment, social prescribing, mentoring, alternative activities, and collaboration across family, school, medical, and welfare sectors. The model emphasizes sustainable recovery through strengthened offline engagement rather than short-term symptom suppression.

In the final section, Prof. Lee discussed broader policy implications, including regulation of social media algorithms, protection of adolescents from targeted advertising, and evidence suggesting that smartphone restrictions in schools may improve academic performance, reduce cyberbullying, and enhance physical activity.

During the question-and-answer session, participants raised questions about evidence related to addiction mechanisms, policy implications for Japan in comparison with South Korea, and practical strategies to increase survey response rates in research on digital media use. The discussion highlighted both the global relevance of digital media addiction and the importance of culturally tailored, evidence-based public health responses.