Call of Duty's fictional Korean War fuels political debate in South Korea

Highlights

• Game depicts a fictional second Korean War
• Opposition lawmakers challenge Lee's North Korea policy
• Minister says video games enjoy constitutional protection
• Border mine explosions revive debate over military threats
• Politicians question consistency over politically sensitive works

A fictional North Korean invasion of Seoul in the latest instalment of the Call of Duty video game franchise has triggered a political debate in South Korea over national security, inter-Korean relations and freedom of expression, reports The Korea Herald.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, which depicts a devastating second Korean War following a surprise North Korean attack, has prompted opposition politicians to challenge President Lee Jae Myung over what they describe as his administration's overly conciliatory approach towards Pyongyang.

The controversy reached the National Assembly's annual audit on Friday (23 October), when Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young was questioned about whether the government should scrutinise the game, which features battles against North Korean troops and the fictional death of the country's leader.

Choi defended the game's right to depict politically sensitive subjects, saying video games, like films, are protected forms of creative expression.

"Games are not subject to prior censorship," he told lawmakers, adding that the government could not suppress creative works simply because of their political content, as freedom of expression is protected under the Constitution.

Released worldwide on Friday, the game was developed by US studio Infinity Ward. It depicts a full-scale North Korean invasion of South Korea, with battles across the peninsula, including urban combat in Seoul. A sequence showing an assault on a compound resembling the North Korean leadership's headquarters has also attracted attention online.

Opposition questions South Korea's military preparedness

The game's depiction of a second Korean War has given opposition lawmakers fresh grounds to criticise Lee's North Korea policy.

The 1950–53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas technically still at war.

Conservative lawmaker and former justice minister Han Dong-hoon urged Lee on Friday to play the game himself to understand the potential consequences of what Han described as inadequate defence preparedness.

"Of course, it is a fictional story," Han wrote on Facebook. "But North Korea's invasion on June 25, 1950, was a historical reality, and the North Korean military threat remains very real today."

Han acknowledged concerns that the game could fuel hostility towards North Korea but said its fictional scenario raised a legitimate question about whether South Korea would be prepared for another invasion.

He also criticised Lee for describing North Korea's nuclear arsenal as a "last-resort defensive weapon" during a meeting with reporters on 19 October. Lee had questioned whether Pyongyang would use nuclear weapons in combat, given its military disadvantages relative to South Korea.

Han pointed out that North Korea had codified circumstances under which it could launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike.

He also questioned the administration's push for an early transfer of wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul and reductions in joint military exercises with the United States.

Hoping that the game's depiction of a devastated Seoul would remain confined to the virtual world, Han urged Lee to consider the potential consequences of insufficient military preparedness.

"National security is not about hope, but preparation," he wrote.

Ahn Cheol-soo, a lawmaker from the main opposition People Power Party, made a similar recommendation on 20 October, accusing Lee of underestimating the North Korean threat. Ahn suggested that even watching gameplay footage could help the president understand the potential consequences of what he described as naive security assumptions.

Border incident adds to debate

The minor opposition Reform Party also linked the game's fictional conflict to a recent incident along the inter-Korean border.

In a statement on Sunday, party deputy spokesperson Choi Je-il referred to two landmine explosions inside the Demilitarised Zone on 21 September that injured three South Korean soldiers, two of them seriously.

A joint investigation by South Korea's military and the United Nations Command subsequently concluded that the explosions were caused by North Korean anti-personnel mines planted south of the Military Demarcation Line, in violation of the Korean War Armistice Agreement.

Choi criticised the administration's approach towards Pyongyang, arguing that genuine peace required a realistic assessment of military threats rather than reliance on goodwill.

"Politics must confront the reality of those threats more accurately than a video game does," he said.

Creative freedom becomes another political battleground

The controversy has also raised questions about whether politicians apply consistent standards to creative works dealing with politically sensitive subjects.

The debate has drawn comparisons with Assassin(s), a Korean historical thriller released in cinemas last month that depicts the 1974 assassination of former first lady Yuk Young-soo. The film has faced criticism from conservatives over its suggestion that South Korea's intelligence agency at the time may have been involved in her death.

Conservative lawmakers have accused progressives of hypocrisy, arguing that those who defended the film as a fictional work should extend the same protection to a video game depicting a North Korean invasion.

People Power Party lawmaker Park Soo-young made that argument in a Facebook post last week, urging those who maintained that a film should be treated simply as a film to apply the same principle to Call of Duty.

Another party lawmaker, Joo Jin-woo, defended the game in a YouTube interview, saying its portrayal of a hypothetical future conflict should fall within the bounds of creative freedom.

The debate has also inspired political satire. Lee Sang-min, a former comedian turned political content creator, said on Thursday that he had bought the game as a gift for Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, who has advocated dialogue, engagement and peaceful coexistence with Pyongyang.

Lee posted a receipt for the purchase online.

Ruling party lawmaker defends game

The game has not prompted similar objections across the ruling camp.

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Han-kyu posted a short video on social media on Thursday titled "What's wrong with buying Call of Duty?" The title used a Korean wordplay involving the game's abbreviated name, "Call of Duty 4", and the word "sa", which means both "four" and "buy".

Kim dismissed suggestions that a game involving attacks on North Korea was inherently inappropriate, arguing that video games should not be regulated unless they violate the law.

He also suggested that familiar Korean settings could make the game more appealing to domestic players.

"Given that we are technically still under an armistice, it would be stranger if there were no games about fighting a war against North Korea," Kim said.