South Korea's gaming addiction

韩国青少年沉迷网络游戏

In South Korea many kids don't want to be sports stars, they want to be professional gamers. They practise for hours in rooms known as PC Bangs. The competition is so tough, there's no time to stop for dinner.

In this arena, you're a fighter, a hero, a winner. But it's having a real impact on this new gaming generation.

These teenagers are just a few of the hundreds who've had to undergo a digital detoxtreatment. Their passion was becoming an addiction.

Male, former gaming addict.

I tried quitting by myself, but my friends kept seducing me back to the PC Bang.

They're taught to care for others and taken to a retirement home where they even put on a show. The aim is to help them interact in the real world: develop a human connection before their symptoms become much worse.

But one head teacher believes the answer is not to limit gaming, but to encourage it.

Everyone looks at this as a gaming problem. But if you look beyond that, all the kids have talent. And if you just hone that and make them concentrate on it, I think the kids show signs of genius.

The South Korean paradox is that its gaming industry is one of the biggest in the world worth over five billion dollars and it’s growing fast. But this country's also having to invest billions to ensure it doesn't lose a generation along the way.