The whole world is suffering from "Pokemon Go Fever." Some people may have seen their friends from the United States of America or Australia playing this game and posting Pokemon images on their Facebook or Instagram. Because the game has not officially been released in South Korea, many Koreans have no choice but to enviously look at the foreign users enjoying their lives with Pokemons. Some even devised a way to experience the game using VPN (virtual private network) to use American IP address to download the Pokemon Go. So, what is this game and why are people so crazy about it?

Pokemon Go, released in July 2016 for iOS and Android, is a free-to-play location-based augmented reality mobile game developed by Niantic and published by The Pokemon Company. The game allows players to capture, battle, and train Pokemon, who appear throughout the real world, making use of GPS and camera. It is also referred as augmented reality game (AR)--a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are supplemented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound video, graphics, or GPS data (Wikipedia)--which also contributes to its popularity.

Now, why is Pokemon Go so popular? First of all, Pokemon is already popular all over the world. From its birthplace Japan, children and even adults from Korea, America, China and other countries have loved these cute little characters since its introduction. Secondly, the games uses reality and therefore effectively immerses the users into the world of Pokemon. By using real locational images and information, the game is able to entrench the sense of reality, the sense of adventures to the users and brings them to the virtual world of excitement. The third reason is that the game allows people to actually go out and interact with the community in search of Pokemon. "Pokemon Go is unnaturally popular here in the United States like a social phenomenon," said a 30-year-old officer worker in San Jose, California. "People are gathering everywhere to play the game together. I even saw a man walking down the street in the middle of night playing it." This hugely contributes to the sensory pleasure that people receive from the game, the feeling of actual adventure.

However, there is always a downside for such popularity. Criminals are using the eagerness of the Pokemon Go players to achieve their mischiefs. In Missouri, armed robber used Pokemon Go to target people, waiting at the location where Pokemon appears, and when the users pass by, victimizing them. Some state governments have raised concerns on the users who blindly follows screen instead of becoming aware of their surroundings, urging the people to refrain from playing game on the traffic zones or busy areas.

On July 14th, a fortunate news spread all of South Korea. After hearing the news, people started to take train, car, bus or whatever transportation to go to Sokcho, Gangwon province, South Korea, where it is known that Pokemon appeared. All the tickets to Sokcho were sold out and Sokcho city hall officials even offered free wireless network for the players. Because the Korean government prohibits the export of uncensored map data overseas without permission, Google has failed to launch the Korean version of the Pokemon Go; however, because Sokcho, the furthest north of the South Korea, was recognized as North Korea, the users where able to find Pokemons there. Though the game is only limited to Sokcho currently, there is a hope for Pokemon-lovers for Google, despite the repeated refusal of Korean government, has applied for permission and the government promised to make the decision by August 25th.