New Delhi: The suicide of three minor sisters from Ghaziabad has been linked to what is being called a ‘Korean Love Game’. According to the Ghaziabad police, the minors were “highly addicted” to an online Korean task-based game, which they had been playing for the past three years.
The girls jumped from the ninth floor and reportedly left an eight-page note. “Sorry papa,” read the note, which also featured a crying emoji.
“They were highly obsessed with the game and thought that they were not Indians, but Koreans. They also portrayed themselves as Korean princesses under the influence of the game,” Atul Kumar Singh, assistant police commissioner (ACP), Ghaziabad told the Hindustan Times.
K-Pop and Korean culture have become prominent among India’s younger generation.
What is the ‘Korean Love Game’?
Korean ‘romance’ games use an online chat system where a user poses as a Korean male or a female to interact with a virtual partner. The games often revolve around love and friendship, sometimes featuring Korean learning or romantic conversations. Dozens of Korea-themed games are available on the Google Play Store: ‘K-Pop Dating Game’ and ‘Korean Games: Infinite’ are some examples.
“Master vocabulary through gaming. Fun interactive lessons, quizzes and flashcards,” reads the description for Korean Games: Infinite.
Some of these games feature 3D storylines and interactions, and have millions of downloads on the Play Store. Other Korean games popular in India come from K-dramas, including the Dalgona Cookie Challenge and Red Light, Green Light.
The girls were reportedly restricted from using the phone for the past few days. “The girls were troubled by this, and because of that, they took this decision,” said Nimish Patel, DCP.
In such games, the difficulty level increases over time, leading to increased mental pressure. Users end up spending hours playing them.
It’s not the first time a game has proved fatal for Indian youth. In 2018, the country banned the Blue Whale Challenge Game after it was linked to multiple deaths.
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Korean companies investing in India
The Korean gaming industry has been increasingly investing in India. In 2025, gaming company Krafton, which made PUBG, announced that it would invest $200 million in India.
According to a report, out of about 450 million Indian gamers, over 200 million play Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), a mobile shooter game by Krafton. The company is planning to launch three to five titles in 2026.
Last year, the Indian government passed The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 in Parliament. “It will encourage e-sports and online social games. At the same time, it will save our society from the harmful effects of online money games,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He added that several online games were negatively influencing the students and that the future of the youth had to be safeguarded.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)
As much as I hate banning things – these kind of games which instruct kids to do certain task in real life needs to be banned.
Dear parents, you need to monitor your kids activities. This doesn’t mean that you control their lives but for your kid’s sake monitor their social activities in a discreet manner. Create an environment where they can share things with you especially if they don’t have an elder sibling to guide them. In this case, all kids seem to be completely lost, failing in academies and obsessed over Korean culture which is just insane.
Also media is fake. Do you want to to see how bad things are underneath so called “Korean culture” ? This like obsessing over Indian stars to only know how shit they are in real life.