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An official from the Korea Media Rating Board inspects game machines waiting to enter the market in Seoul on August 21.
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Officials given slaps on the wrist, retained jobs
The Korea Media Rating Board was found to systematically cover up allegations of bribery between the board's officials and adult online gaming operators. In addition, the board is alleged to have hired some members of the illegal gaming operators to the board's committee to assess gaming machines. The board, which, among other responsibilities, grants licenses to game manufacturers, has been embroiled in controversy in recent weeks surrounding murky procedures in the granting of licenses for online gaming machines. According to statements made by the board's officials on August 21, as of January 19 this year, the 29-year-old completing his mandatory military service by working for the board received 11 million won (US$13,000) from an executive of an adult online game machine manufacturer. The executive asked the serviceman, identified as Ha, to deliver the money as a bribe to one of the board's members responsible for rating game machines, but Ha pocketed the money instead, which he admitted during an investigation by the prosecution launched earlier this week.However, when the executive at the game manufacturer, 41-year-old Roh, revealed the bribery allegations to the board in late February, the board merely transferred Ha to another office. In addition, before the allegations surfaced, Roh's company had been twice refused the board's licensing approval. But on February 28, after Ha's transfer, the board gave Roh's company a license. Responding to these allegations, the director of the board's video games division, Kim Kyu-shik (then the director of the game and image division), told The Hankyoreh late last week, "As Roh raised questions, we had an internal investigation into Ha after reporting the matter to board chief Lee Kyung-soon." But no request was made for police to investigate the case. In addition, a 58-year-old former film director at the board, who is only identified as his surname Hong, was indicted by prosecutors on Aug. 20 on charges of receiving 10 million won from a 42-year-old broker, identified as Cho. But the board merely gave Hong a three-month suspension. Hong tendered his resignation before the end of the three-month job suspension period, saying that he had "just borrowed the money." Under the board's internal rules, however, there is no difference between a voluntary resignation and a layoff, and between 2003 and 2005, Hong received a full-point rating on a scale of 1-10 in terms of integrity. In addition, according to investigation done by The Hankyoreh, some members of the board were found to have cultivated business alliances with illegal gaming operators between 2004 and 2005. In addition, a brother-in-law of one board member was hired as an executive of a major gaming operator.
