The South Korean government is introducing policies aimed at curbing¹ the amount of time children spend playing online games.

韩国政府欲实行新政策以限制儿童玩网游的时间。

The first involves barring online gaming access to young people of school age between 12am (midnight) and 8am.

The other policy suggests slowing down people's internet connections after they have been logged on to certain games for a long period of time.

The Culture Ministry² is calling on games providers to implement³（实施，落实） the plans.

It is asking the companies to monitor the national identity numbers of their players, which includes the age of the individual.

Parents can also choose to be notified if their identity number is used online.

"The policy provides a way for parents to supervise（监督，监察） their children's game playing," Lee Young-ah from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism told Reuters.

The Korea Herald⁴ reports that Barameui Nara, Maple⁵ Story and Mabinogi, three popular virtual worlds, will introduce the blackout（灯火管制） later this year.

Meanwhile role playing games "Dungeon⁶ and Fighter" and "Dragon Nest" will pilot the connection slowing scheme.

A total of 19 role playing games will eventually be included - a huge proportion of the online gaming market in the country.

South Korea has sophisticated high speed broadband connections and online gaming is enormously（巨大地，非常地） popular.

But there has been growing concern over the amount of time its citizens spend in virtual worlds and playing online games.

A couple whose baby daughter starved while they spent up to 12 hours a day in internet cafes raising a virtual child online have made headlines around the world.

They were charged with negligent⁷（疏忽的） homicide（杀人罪） and are due to be sentenced on 16 April.