Outrage as real footage of deadly Seoul crowd crush is used in video game, bereaved families demand its removal

Bereaved families and civic groups in South Korea have expressed strong anger after real footage of the deadly 2022 Seoul crowd crush was used in a new video game, demanding that the publisher remove the footage.

At the centre of the row is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. In the opening moments of the game, a seconds-long clip shows a figure performing CPR on a victim lying in the street, while another scene shows rows of bodies laid out in the road and a victim being carried away on a stretcher. The clips are used to depict civilian casualties during a fictional North Korean invasion in the game's story.

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

In a joint statement on Wednesday, the bereaved families' council and a coalition of civic groups said they were appalled that the chaotic and desperate scenes, in which countless citizens performed CPR to save one another and victims lay on the cold street, were used exactly as they were to create a scene in a game. They demanded that the footage be removed.

The statement also said people who took part in the rescue or witnessed the crush are still living with trauma, while hateful comments about the victims are spreading online in connection with the game's premise.

The game's publisher, Activision, told South Korea's Yonhap news agency that some actual news footage included in the game's opening cinematic was used as an element to convey the fictional story within the work. The company said it had absolutely no intention of mentioning or treating lightly any actual tragic event, including the Itaewon tragedy.

Players in South Korea were the first to identify the clip after the game's release. Korean broadcasters later compared the game's scenes side by side with footage filmed on the night of the crowd crush. The Korean Game Users Association has called for an apology and for the footage to be replaced.

The row has surfaced as the country marks the fourth anniversary of the crush on Thursday. Modern Warfare 4 follows a South Korean marine private fighting a North Korean invasion through recognisable Korean streets, and it had already become a political talking point before its release.