According to Marketing Insight, a consumer research institute, 14 million out of 37 million cell phone subscribers in Korea play mobile games. To put it another way, four out of every 10 people are mobile gamers. More specifically, 2.3 million play mobile games everyday, accounting for 6.2 percent of the total cell phone subscribers, including 15 percent of cell phone users in their teens and twenties.

As the popularity of mobile games soars among teenagers and workers, there is a growing concern over “mobile game addiction.” Indeed, mobile games are increasingly causing distractions at workplaces and classes.

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Experts agree that the biggest problem with mobile games is the difficulty in determining whether one is addicted to the games or not.

According to psychiatry professor Yoon Soo-jung of St. Paul’s Hospital, many teachers complain about students playing mobile games in class, and it is difficult for parents to notice their children’s mobile game addiction as children can easily hide their mobile game playing, unlike Internet games.

Oh Won-i, the head of the Information Misuse Prevention and Research Center at Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion, also pointed out that due to the ubiquity of cell phones, it is hard to draw a clear definition of mobile game addiction despite its great adverse effects. In addition, he emphasized the need for concerted efforts from mobile phone operators to establish a program to prevent mobile game addiction.