Korea's AI Character Chat Apps Will Meet Youth Rules Before Game Law

Korean AI character chat apps have grown without undergoing game ratings or falling under Korean game law because they have been treated as non-game services. That does not mean they face no regulation. While the legal definition of a game is being reconsidered, reports and bills focused on youth protection are moving ahead.

No Agency Has Ruled on Whether G-STAR's New Face Is a Game

On August 13, 2026, the G-STAR organizing committee announced that this year's main sponsor would be Crack, Wrtn's AI character chat app. Jung Seung-woo, a director of the organizing committee, said this was the first time a company outside the gaming industry had become the main sponsor. A non-game app has become the face of Korea's largest game show. Nearly half of Crack's users are teenagers or younger. Yet no agency has ruled on whether the app is a game.

58.3% of Zeta's Users Are Teenagers or Younger

According to Mobile Index, Zeta had 1,586,178 monthly active users in August 2026. That is a little over 27 times its 58,069 users in April 2024. Crack had 538,841 monthly active users that August.

The age distribution makes the core audience clear. Teenagers and younger users account for 58.3% of Zeta's users and 47.8% of Crack's. Including people in their twenties brings those shares to 82% for Zeta and about 90% for Crack. Users also spend considerable time in the apps. Citing Mobile Index data, Seoul Economic Daily reported average monthly usage of 40 hours for Zeta and 26 hours for Crack.

Korean Game Law's Definition Has Never Addressed Character Chat

Korea's Game Industry Promotion Act defines games as "visual material produced to enable entertainment using information-processing technologies such as computer programs, or mechanical devices, or, as an ancillary function, to enhance the benefits of constructive leisure, learning, exercise and similar activities" (unofficial translation). No ruling has established whether open-ended conversations with characters fall within this definition. As the Yonhap News article noted, both apps have been distributed as entertainment apps, and no agency has assessed whether they are games. Google and Apple assigned their age ratings, and compliance with government guidelines has never been investigated.

A bill to comprehensively revise the Game Industry Promotion Act has been stalled in the National Assembly for a long time since its introduction. Redefining games is considered one of the issues at stake in that bill.

Regulation Moved First Outside Game Law

While their treatment as non-games kept these apps beyond the reach of game regulation, action began elsewhere.

In July 2026, the National Assembly Research Service published a report on children and adolescents exposed to the risks of AI chatbots. Assistant legislative researcher Kim Na-jeong concluded that endless conversations and access at any time could increase emotional dependence or excessive engagement among children and adolescents. The report proposed building a preventive protection framework through safer service design and stronger provider accountability.

Cho In-cheol of the Democratic Party introduced a bill that would require providers, at a guardian's request, to restrict how and for how long children and adolescents use a service, and to provide guardians with the contents of conversations with characters. California in the United States has a law regulating AI companion chatbots, SB 243, in force. Aju Business Daily expected the issue to be a major topic in the National Assembly's annual audit of government agencies in October.

The companies say they already filter out violent or hateful content. They also call for a balance between user protection and industry innovation instead of blanket restrictions.

What Remains Unverified

The original bill text is needed to establish who introduced the comprehensive revision, when it was introduced and how it would change the definition of a game. We could not find an official position from the Game Rating and Administration Committee on Crack or Zeta. We also do not yet know which features within Crack might count as games, or whether those features would require game ratings. The exact name and introduction date of Cho In-cheol's bill also need to be checked against the original text.

Parental Controls Cost More When Added Later

Founders should pay attention to the order in which regulation arrives. While a revised definition under game law remains pending, the National Assembly Research Service report and the parental control bill have arrived first, with the National Assembly's annual audit of government agencies coming next. Growing outside the boundaries of Korean game law does not mean regulation will arrive late. It is arriving through youth protection rather than game law.

The measures in Cho In-cheol's bill, restricting usage at a guardian's request and providing conversation contents, both depend on account architecture and how conversation records are stored. Adding them after the user base has grown means more parts of the service will need changes. For conversational services with many young users, it is useful to document what linking guardian accounts and retrieving conversation records for them would require, regardless of whether the bill passes.