Lawmakers urge South Korean president to play ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4’ as wake-up call to supposed North Korea threat

The president of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, has been urged to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 by critics who believe the game’s depiction of an invasion from North Korea should serve as a wake-up call. Opposition lawmakers claim that the game serves as a reminder of the need to up the country’s defences to be prepared for the worst-case scenario.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 was released on Friday and begins with a scene depicting a sudden attack from North Korea against South Korea, turning the country’s capital, Seoul, into a battlefield. Players play as Park Hyun-jun, a South Korean private, and fight against North Korean troops in the game’s opening.

The latest Call of Duty also includes a mission in which players raid a compound in North Korea that resembles the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun. Reactions to the game have been mixed, according to South China Morning Post, although there were calls for a government response from Kim Sung-jae, the executive director of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Centre, who claimed that the game’s content could have geopolitical implications.

South Korean politicians call for stronger defences

Opposition lawmakers used the game as an example of what they claimed could be a realistic threat to South Korea. Former member of the People Power Party and now independent conservative politician, Han Dong-hoon urged the South Korean president to play the game, claiming it should serve as a wake-up call for the need to increase the country’s defenses.

Dong-hoon expressed concerns that South Korea was not prepared should an attack occur and criticized Lee Jae Myung, who called North Korea’s nuclear arsenal a “last resort defensive weapon” last week.

In a Facebook post, Dong-hoon acknowledged, “Of course, it is a fictional story,” before going on to compare the fictional events to a real-world example: “But North Korea’s invasion on June 25, 1950, was a historical reality, and the North Korean military threat remains very real today.” 

Dong-hoon’s post was referring to the Korean War, which began on June 25, 1950, and saw the North Korean People’s Army invade South Korea. The war lasted three years and ended in an armistice rather than a treaty, meaning both sides of Korea technically remain at war with one another.

While Han Dong-hoon said he hoped that the events depicted in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 did not become reality, he pressed the president to be prepared in case something like the game’s opening minutes ever did happen. He also criticized the decision to reduce the amount of joint military exercises South Korea was conducting with the US. Activision, the company behind the game, has yet to comment on the situation.