Street Battles in Heart of Seoul: New War Game Sparks Controversy

[Anchor]

A new installment in a globally popular war game series was released yesterday (October 23). Set against a fictional Korean Peninsula war triggered by a North Korean invasion, the game has sparked controversy over whether its subject matter is appropriate.

Reporter Choi Seung-hun has the story.

[Reporter]

As soldiers emerge from an ordinary convenience store in South Korea, an explosion turns the neighborhood into a battlefield.

[(Can you hear me?) It's an explosion. Get down! Get down!]

This is from the game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4."

Cumulative sales for the series have surpassed 500 million copies, and the new release has also claimed the top spot on gaming distribution platforms.

The story follows South Korean Private Park Hyun-jun fighting against a full-scale North Korean invasion, featuring familiar alleys, a baseball stadium, amphibious operations, and trench warfare.

The stage also shifts inside North Korea, depicting crowds gathered for the supreme leader's funeral, a power succession, and a military coup.

Although it is a fictional war within a game, controversy has erupted over whether it is appropriate to use the Korean Peninsula, which remains technically at armistice, as a gaming subject.

While some argue that turning an inter-Korean war into entertainment is excessive commercialization by a foreign game company, others maintain that it falls under creative freedom and can even serve as a reminder of the dangers of war.

A debate also unfolded during the National Assembly audit of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

[Kim Seok-ki / National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee Member (People Power Party): It is said that the progressive faction has been reacting hypersensitively, demanding that distribution be halted immediately even before the game's release.]

[Choi Hui-young / Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism: I think it is simply a natural phenomenon to see various reactions regarding a game.]

The developer stated that it chose South Korea as a backdrop by focusing on the military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

[Jack O'Hara / Co-head of Infinity Ward (Game Developer): We want the game to feel like a story straight out of real news. Not by copying it directly, but by making it feel like something that could actually happen in reality.]

The developer explained that it did not portray the actual Kim Jong-un family, but instead established a fictional North Korean leadership.

(Photo: Yonhap News)

Reported by Choi Seung-hun | Video by Ha Ryung | Video Editing by Kim Jun-hee | VJ by Lee Ji-hwan | Footage source: YouTube 'Call of Duty', 'Xbox', 'Gamer's Little Playground'
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.