Prime Minister Kim Min-seok visited Nexon's headquarters in Pangyo, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on Jan. 15 to review the state of the game industry and listen to views from the sector.

The visit was attended by Kim, Lee Jin-won, head of the Social Coordination Office at the Office for Government Policy Coordination, and Kim Jae-hyun, head of the Culture and Media Industry Office at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Nexon attendees included co-CEOs Kang Dae-hyun and Kim Jeong-wook, Vice President Kim Yong-dae for external public relations, Kim Han-jun, vice president of investment at Nexon Korea, and Kwon Jeong-an, head of the financial management division.

In a meeting with executives, Kim said it was meaningful to visit Nexon, which he called a pillar of K-sports and K-content. He stressed that games and e-sports are a central part of "content culture". He said games account for 70 percent of current content exports and praised Nexon for building unrivalled competitiveness over more than 30 years.

Kim also expressed the government's willingness to support the industry. He said he is aware of the difficult business environment facing game companies and wants to discuss how the government can work together to provide support. He stressed the need to pursue industry promotion alongside user protection, saying the government recognises that the industry can develop only if it promotes the game industry while also protecting gamers.

Kim also said the president recognises games and e-sports as an important culture and industry, not an addiction or a disorder. He added that he views as meaningful Nexon's efforts to move away from a uniform approach to probability-based items.

After the meeting, Kim visited a sound studio inside Nexon's headquarters, a special-effects production site. He listened to an explanation of the sound production process for in-game music, sound effects and voices, and watched a demonstration of Foley sound production.

After completing the site tour, Kim said it was the most interesting among the semiconductor and car factories he has toured so far.

A Nexon official said the prime minister visited the headquarters to review the state of the game industry and the challenges facing the sector, and to hear industry views for future development.