South Korea expands smartphone rest centers, strengthens measures to prevent and alleviate internet addiction risks

The South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT has announced plans to operate "Visiting Smartphone Rest Centers" from 2025 to prevent and reduce excessive reliance on the internet and smartphones.
The center first opened in Seoul in 2002 as the "Internet Addiction Response Center." In 2015, in response to the expansion of smartphone use, the name was changed to the current one, and the center now operates 18 locations nationwide.
The center is currently operating 10 schools. The center provides legally required education on preventing smartphone addiction to school-age children and young people, and also offers consultations for people at risk of becoming addicted.
The center will be open twice a week until 8 p.m., so that it can be used by not only young people but also the general public. It will also provide consultation to educational institutions and other organizations that need it after receiving applications.
The center will be operated by the DeepFei Foundation. It will also expand its educational scope to include responding to sexual crimes involving the misuse of DeepFei, and will provide diagnostic services in elementary, middle, and high schools to identify people at risk of becoming addicted.
At the same time, the company plans to use the platforms of companies that are closely related to daily life, such as telecommunications companies, and are actively undergoing digital transformation to
We will implement programs to prevent the risk of becoming overly dependent on digital.