The Game Rating and Administration Committee (; GRAC) (formerly the Game Rating Board () until December 23, 2013) is the South Korean video game content rating board. A governmental organization, the GRAC rates video games to inform customers of the nature of game contents.
Initially, the Korea Media Rating Board, a governmental organization, rated video games just like other entertainment media. However, a controversy occurred because the Korea Media Rating Board rated an arcade gambling game Sea Story as if it were suitable for everyone, with allegations of misconduct. The Korean government responded to the controversy by creating the GRB in 2006 and making it the only rating organization for rating video games in South Korea.
The GRAC has been criticized as one of the elements of the Internet censorship in South Korea, and has been criticized for being the same as censorship of China. By law, games sold in the country must be rated by GRAC prior to sale; additional regulations stipulate age and real name verification for certain mature-audience titles, as well as regulations on location-based games.
In October 2022, the GRAC's decision to raise the age rating for the game Blue Archive from 15+ to 18+ drew criticism from fans. The move prompted a petition calling for a public audit of the GRAC led by Democratic Party politician , which received 5,489 in-person signatures in front of the National Assembly building. The audit's findings were published in June 2023 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), which found that the GRAC had mishandled around 700 million won ($) in taxpayer money. In light of the findings, the MCST announced it would overhaul the committee, replacing department heads and filing criminal charges against those involved.
Age rating symbol
The GRAC currently uses four different age ratings.