South Korean families demand removal of alleged Itaewon disaster footage in Call Of Duty game

SEOUL – Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, a best-selling first-person shooter video game, is receiving backlash for allegedly using footage from the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush in a cinematic sequence, prompting bereaved families and a civic coalition to demand its removal.The controversial clip, which lasts about three seconds, shows paramedics performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a person who has collapsed.The Families of the Itaewon Disaster and the Citizens’ Countermeasures Meeting for the Itaewon Disaster said using footage of the tragedy in an entertainment game was inappropriate. They said people who witnessed the disaster or took part in rescue efforts continue to suffer from trauma, and that hateful online comments belittling the victims have added to their pain.The game’s publisher, Activision, told the local media that it had no intention to reference or trivialise the disaster in any way. It argued that the sequence was meant to convey the game’s fictional story, which involves a North Korean invasion of South Korea and fighting in Seoul.The Itaewon crowd crush during Halloween festivities on Oct 29, 2022 killed more than 150 people. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK