5·18 Citizen Soldiers as North Korean Troops?…High School Students Creating History-Distorting Game

Elementary Student Who Reported Incident Also Sent to Prosecution as Secondary Perpetrator

High school students who created a virtual reality game based on the May 18 Democratic Uprising and inserted historical distortions have been referred to the prosecution.

According to Yonhap News on the 16th, the Cyber Investigation Unit of the Gwangju Police Agency sent two high school students, including a student identified as A, to the prosecution without detention on charges of violating the Special Act on the May 18 Democratic Uprising (May 18 distortion punishment law).

Student A and others are accused of sharing a game called "That Day in Gwangju" on the metaverse game platform Roblox in April and May, which depicted the May 18 citizen militia as North Korean soldiers.

The game is set in Geumnam-ro, Gwangju, in May 1980. In a situation where a firefight breaks out between the citizen militia and military police, if players purchase items with game money, the citizen militia turn into North Korean soldiers, and following underground tunnels in the virtual reality reveals the North Korean flag and North Korean songs.

Gwangju Police Agency building.

Student A and others are Roblox users residing in different regions and were investigated to have created the game to attract the attention of netizens.

The game quickly accumulated over 15,000 users, and after being reported by an elementary school student, it was deleted by the platform's action.

After the May 18 Memorial Foundation reported the creators to the police, another game depicting the elementary school informant being sexually harassed was also created.

The police also referred one high school student who created the secondary victimization game to the prosecution without detention on charges of violating the Child Welfare Act.