South Korean network apologies for Olympic opening ceremony coverage that included comments about Chernobyl, Italian pizza
A South Korean TV network apologized Saturday for the “inappropriate images and captions” it used to broadcast the Olympic opening ceremony a day earlier.
In editorial decisions that ranged from offensive to baffling, MBC blanketed its coverage with viral narration as each country’s athletes were introduced during the procession.
For Italy, a photo of pizza popped up.
For Romania, one of Dracula.
When Ukranian athletes walked, imagery of Chernobyl, the deadly nuclear accident in 1986, accompanied them.
The Marshall Islands were introduced as “once a nuclear test site for the United States” and Syria was described as a country that has had “a civil war going on for 10 years.”
Haiti’s “political situation is fogged by the assassination of the president,” according to MBC.
“The images and captions are intended to make it easier for the viewers to understand the entering countries quickly during the opening ceremony,” the network said in a statement Saturday.
“However we admit that there was a lack of consideration for the countries concerned and inspection was not thorough enough. It is an inexcusable mistake.”
