Game includes footage of bystanders performing CPR at the scene

Korea Game Users Association calls for explanation and apology

An introductory video sequence from "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4" that includes archival footage from the Itaewon crowd crush. [Yonhap]
An introductory video sequence from "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4" that includes archival footage from the Itaewon crowd crush. [Yonhap]

A first-person shooter game depicting a full-scale North Korean invasion of South Korea has drawn widespread backlash after footage from the Oct. 29 Itaewon crowd crush was found embedded in its opening sequence. Victims' families, civic groups and a gaming industry association condemned the move as "unconscionable" and called on the developer to remove the footage.

According to the gaming industry, "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4," released by US game publisher Activision on Friday, includes roughly three seconds of broadcast archival footage showing bystanders performing CPR on a collapsed victim in the immediate aftermath of the Itaewon crowd crush.

The footage was used to depict civilian casualties in the game, which is set against the backdrop of a war on the Korean Peninsula.

The Oct. 29 Itaewon Crowd Crush Bereaved Families Association and the Citizens' Response Committee issued a joint statement Wednesday saying they "cannot help but be appalled" that footage of the chaotic and desperate scene — in which countless bystanders performed CPR on one another and victims lay on cold streets — was lifted wholesale to recreate a scene in a video game.

"Citizens who participated in rescue efforts or witnessed the disaster are still suffering from trauma," the groups said, calling the use of such an event for entertainment purposes "highly inappropriate and unconscionable." They also expressed concern that the game's setting was fueling secondary harm, with hateful comments online denigrating the disaster by linking it to the game's fictional scenario.

Jo In-young, co-director of the Citizens' Response Committee's joint situation room, told Yonhap that the incident reflected a profound insensitivity to the anguish felt by victims' families, survivors and the public when confronted with footage from the scene, and a failure to consider the dignity of those who died.

Jo added that foreign bereaved families had traveled to Korea to attend a memorial service, and that the committee planned to formally raise the issue with signatures from victims' families.

The Korea Game Users Association also issued a statement Wednesday urging Activision to provide "a clear explanation of the circumstances and an apology" for using footage of a tragic disaster unrelated to the game's narrative in a way that caused harm to victims' families and others. The association called on the company to "respond responsibly," including by releasing an update that replaces the footage.

Activision said it "had absolutely no intention of referencing or trivializing any real-world tragedy, including the Itaewon disaster."


jshan@heraldcorp.com