Politician suggests president should play Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4

Han Dong-hoon used the plot of a new Call of Duty game to publicly criticize the defense policy of South Korea’s current president and highlight the cost of poor military readiness.

South Korean politician Han Dong-hoon urged the country’s president to play through the campaign of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 so that the leader can evaluate the consequences of inadequate preparation for a potential military conflict.

The new installment in the franchise depicts a fictional war on the Korean Peninsula and shows the destruction caused by an escalating conflict between North Korea and South Korea. The politician drew particular attention to the destroyed city of Seoul.

Han Dong-hoon stated that the game helps visualize the scale of catastrophe that the country’s insufficient readiness for aggression could cause. He expressed hope that such events will forever remain only part of a video game.

The appeal sparked controversy, as critics fear that such scenarios might heighten fear and hostility toward the neighboring state. In response, the politician recalled the North Korean attack of June 25, 1950, and emphasized that military threats must not be underestimated. In his view, preserving peace requires readiness for even the worst-case scenario.

A political conflict also underlies the statement, as Han Dong-hoon disagrees with the current president’s approach to military funding and national defense. Call of Duty served as a way for him to draw attention to this stance.