A British online casino company has drawn criticism for appropriating the character of legendary Korean naval hero Yi Sun-shin in a cyber slot machine game.
British gaming company Pragmatic Play released the game, titled “Yi Sun Shin,” in September of last year. A demo version of the game features imagery of Yi dressed in what resembles Chinese-style armor along with that of the iconic turtle ships designed by the admiral.
As players win game money, phrases such as “Yi Sun-shin has returned” and “Victory is mine” are spoken.
Seo Kyoung-duk, a Sungshin Women’s University professor well known for his efforts to promote Korean interests abroad, expressed concerns over the appearance of Yi in a gambling game.
“The appearance of Korean hero Yi in gambling games produced by foreign gaming companies could lead to significant misunderstandings among users worldwide,” Seo told Yonhap News Agency over the phone.
Seo added he will express such concerns to the company and urge them to remove Yi from the game.
In So
uth Korea, operations of online casinos are prohibited by law.
A search result of the Yi Sun Shin slot machine game on YouTube in South Korea revealed dozens of illegal ad videos in Korean either demonstrating or promoting the game.
The Korea Communications Standards Commission regularly requests corrective measures against gambling-related content found within YouTube in accordance with the Information and Communication Network Act.
But there has been persistent criticism of insufficient enforcement in cracking down on the significantly expanded cyber gambling market during the COVID-19 period.
Source: Yonhap News Agency