Five South Korean cyber-security institute staff disciplined for gaming at work

Five employees at South Korea’s National Security Research Institute were found to have accessed the StarCraft game server Battle.net during work hours.

The institute focuses on information security and cyber security, and the employees worked at its Cyber Security Training Center in Daejeon.

From September to December 2024, they repeatedly used the server when managers were away, connecting through training lines or the institute’s local network.

One employee’s access time reached 8 hours and 53 minutes in a day, though the employees said they had not played for every minute they were connected.

The institute deducted the recorded time from their paid leave, or from their pay if they did not have enough leave.

It gave the employee with the longest access time a formal reprimand, reduced from a proposed pay cut after the institute considered a past award.

The institute says it has centralized management of training lines, begun monitoring all usage records and blocked access to gaming and other non-work sites.