Kim Jong-cheol (김종철), chair of the Korea Communications Commission, mentioned the possibility of introducing parental consent and mandatory age verification in connection with excessive immersion in social networking services (SNS) among teenagers.

Kim appeared on MBN's "Pressroom" on July 29. He said teenagers are not simply subjects for protection but holders of basic rights who have the right to enjoy their own lives. He added that in the current media environment, education alone makes the issue hard to solve and that minimum regulation is needed.

He said if voluntary cooperation by platform operators is not sufficient, authorities could consider mandating age verification and introducing a parental consent system for sign-ups around age 14. He stressed that such measures should be pursued only after sufficient public discussion.

Kim said it is very dangerous to approach excessive immersion in teen SNS use with regulation alone. He said it is most important to help teenagers recognise the risks themselves and use services autonomously. He added that because teenagers still have immature aspects, experts and society should protect them together.

The commission recently reported in a presidential work briefing that it would seek, through revisions to the Information and Communications Network Act, to restrict SNS sign-ups by those under 14 and mandate age verification. It also reported plans to limit the default provision of features that induce excessive immersion, such as customised recommendation functions for teenagers and infinite scroll.