South Korean broadcaster MBC used images to "represent" each country during the #Tokyo2020 Opening Ceremony.
Italy: pizza
Norway: salmon
Haiti: upheaval
Ukraine: Chernobyl
When Haitian athletes entered the stadium, an on-screen explanation said "the political situation is fogged by the assassination of the president." When Syrian athletes entered, it said "rich underground resources; a civil war that has been going on for 10 years."
For the Marshall Islands, it said "was once a nuclear test site for the US, and is composed of more than 1,200 islands." El Salvador was introduced with a picture representing Bitcoin.
MBC has issued apology: "In today's Opening Ceremony broadcast, inappropriate photos were used when introducing countries like Ukraine and Haiti. Also, inappropriate photos and subtitles were used for other countries. We apologise to the viewers of Ukraine and other countries."
Sweden: said it was the "developed country of welfare" but made a typo in "developed country" (선진국) and wrote "선지국" which is cow blood soup, a Korean delicacy.
One more thing: MBC also indicated the GDP and vaccination rate for each country, leaving netizens baffled.
*Just a note that Korean media carried a typo in the apology, which was actually directed to "the relevant countries (mentioned) including Ukraine and to (Korean) viewers" and not "viewers in Ukraine".
Not a first: For the 2008 Beijing Olympics, MBC introduced Cayman Islands as "famous as a tax haven for establishing offshore funds." Chad was "the dead heart of Africa" and Zimbabwe had "murderous inflation." Was cautioned by Korea Communications Standards Commission.
"Chernobyl" (체르노빌) and "national disgrace" (나라망신) are now trending on Twitter in South Korea re: MBC's geography lesson during the #Tokyo2020 Opening Ceremony.
Update: S. Korean broadcaster MBC has just issued a formal apology re: the "inappropriate" geography lesson which gave Chernobyl as a "representative" image of Ukraine during #Tokyo2020 Opening Ceremony etc. Is "deeply sorry" for the "inexcusable mistake". "Bows down".
MBC has now issued an apology in English.
Also, in an unprecedented move, MBC has published the English apology on the front page first screen of the MBC website.
Update: MBC is to hold a press conference at 3pm today where its president Park Song-je will apologise to the nation for the disaster coverage of the #Tokyo2020 Opening Ceremony. Will be followed by a Q&A. yna.co.kr/view/AKR202107…
Just in: MBC President Park Sung-je just held a presser where he apologised for the MBC's controversial Opening Ceremony coverage.
"Last weekend was the most painful and disastrous time since I took office as president of MBC" he said.
"Again, I bow my head down and apologise."
He also apologised for a controversial on-screen caption that appeared during the coverage of the South Korea vs Romania men's football yesterday.
MBC President Park Sung-je said apologies have been delivered to the Embassies of Ukraine and Romania in Seoul. Unable for Haiti as no presence.
Nutshell of press conference: MBC will make every effort to prevent recurrence of such incidents, strengthen broadcasting codes, creating an ethics committee and content adequacy screening system.
MBC will also improve corporate awareness so that all productions, no just sports, reflect and respect universal values, cultural diversity, human rights, and gender equality.
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