Report: South Korean Ambassador to India Says Krafton Is Trying to Resolve BGMI’s Suspension

Chang Jae-Bok, the incumbent South Korean Ambassador to India, attended the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee audit at the Korean Embassy in New Delhi, India, in October 2022. Surprisingly, it has been reported that the Ambassador spoke about the current state of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) during this audit. A Sportskeeda report said that Ambassador Chang Jae-Bok stated that authorities were trying to resolve the suspension and unavailability of BGMI in India. Notably, the game was blocked on 28th July 2022 under Section 69A of the IT Act 2000.

South Korean Ambassador to India discusses BGMI at the audit

According to a recent video by YouTuber LuckyMan, numerous Korean companies raised their voices to resolve the difficulties they are facing in India at the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee audit. An independent South Korean representative named Kim Hong-gul reportedly discussed the problems Korean companies are facing in India. “India is a market with great potential, and many Korean companies have entered the market. But as the number of companies entering the country increases, they are experiencing difficulties,” said Kim. He further noted that BGMI’s block by the government of India is an “unreasonable discrimination” and inquired about the embassy’s response to it.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Mobile (PUBG Mobile), the original variant of BGMI, is published by the Chinese company Tencent. Due to national security concerns, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) banned PUBG Mobile under section 69A of the I.T. Act 2000 in September 2020 in the country. The ministry stated that the game was prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity, defense of India, and public order. With no hopes of PUBG Mobile returning, Krafton, a South Korean company, introduced an Indian variant of the game titled BGMI. This game quickly filled the void that PUBG Mobile left in the Indian gaming audience with its absence starting in July 2021. However, the government of India went ahead and suspended BGMI as well under the same law one year after its launch.

Responding to Kim Hong-gul in October, Chang Jae-Bok reportedly said, “India cited concerns about cyber security breaches and violence in games as reasons for blocking (BGMI).” Following this, he added, “Playground (BGMI) was serviced by Chinese company Tencent in the past, but there are concerns that India still thinks that it is being serviced by a Chinese company, so we are trying to resolve this.”

BGMI’s potential return seems very uncertain currently. As a result, a lot of content creators, pro players, and fans have lost hope for the game’s return. However, fans have been getting positive news about the game in the last few weeks. In its recent press release, Krafton stated that it was working to resume BGMI services in India. Furthermore, many influential figures, including Yash Bhanushali and Saumya “Saumraj” Raj, have also claimed that the game would return in early 2023.

Update: In an earlier version of this article, the headline incorrectly read ‘sources’ instead of ‘report’. We have since rectified it.