Outcry after Call of Duty creator uses real-life footage of deadly Seoul crowd crush in new video game | South Korea

Bereaved families in South Korea have called on Call of Duty creators to remove harrowing footage of the deadly 2022 Seoul crowd crush from the video game’s latest installment.

The clips, which last a few seconds, appear in the opening moments of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 and are used to depict a scenario of civilian casualties during a fictional invasion of North Korea.

One shows a scene of chaos with a character performing CPR on a victim lying in the street. Another shows rows of bodies spread out on the road and a victim carried on a stretcher.

A total of 158 people were killed in a narrow alley in Seoul’s Itaewon nightlife district over Halloween weekend in 2022. Two more people have since been recognized as victims, who died from the trauma caused by the disaster.

“We are appalled that the chaotic and desperate scenes, in which countless citizens performed CPR to save each other and victims lay in the cold street, were used exactly as they were to create a game scene,” the Bereaved Families Council and a coalition of civic groups said in a joint statement Wednesday, demanding that the footage be removed.

They said people who took part in the rescue or witnessed the crush were still living with trauma, while hateful comments about the victims spread online in connection with the premise of the game.

Activision, the game’s publisher, told Yonhap News Agency that “some real-life news footage included in the game’s opening cinematic was used as an element to convey the fictional story of the work.”

They added: “We had absolutely no intention of mentioning or making light of actual tragic events, including the Itaewon tragedy. »

The Guardian has contacted Activision for comment.

The request comes as the country marks the fourth anniversary of the crush on Thursday.

South Korean players identified the clip after the game’s release, and Korean networks compared it side by side with footage filmed the night of the crowd crush.

The Korean Game Users Association demanded an apology and replacement of the images.

Modern Warfare 4 follows a South Korean marine fighting a North Korean invasion on recognizable Korean streets.

The title had already become a political talking point before its release, with conservative politicians urging President Lee Jae Myung – who is pursuing a more conciliatory approach towards North Korea – to play along to understand what they describe as the threat from Pyongyang.

It topped the sales chart in South Korea on Steam, the leading PC gaming platform, within days of its release.