‘War for Syria, Chernobyl for Ukraine’: South Korean TV apologises for offensive images at Tokyo 2020

Rather than concentrating on their achievements, the broadcast company focussed on the worst events. For Syria, they used images of the civil war, which has been going on for the past 10 years, instead of showcasing its diverse culture and historic sites.

South Korean broadcaster MBC used images to “represent” each country during the #Tokyo2020 Opening Ceremony.

Italy: pizza
Norway: salmon
Haiti: upheaval
Ukraine: Chernobyl pic.twitter.com/KpUXATuZld

— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) July 23, 2021

“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.’,” tweeted Seoul-based freelance journalist Raphael Rashid while sharing images from the event.

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. pic.twitter.com/VNvFYRAskX

— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) July 23, 2021

The stereotypical portrayal of each country at the Tokyo Olympics has drawn flak online, forcing the media company to apologise for the same. “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,” a statement from MBC said.

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. pic.twitter.com/1V3XhVBU0u

— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) July 23, 2021

MBC has now issued an apology in English. https://t.co/wFe7q0qs2G

— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) July 25, 2021

However, this is not the first time MBC has used such images to portray countries. During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, MBC introduced the Cayman Islands as “famous as a tax haven for establishing offshore funds.” Chad was “the dead heart of Africa” and Zimbabwe had “murderous inflation,” according to Rashid’s tweet.

Here is how netizens reacted:

pic.twitter.com/26Xyh2cWDa

— Pa7na (@Pa7na_) July 23, 2021

Did they literally just pick whatever the first picture was that popped up on Google when they did an image search for the country?

— Kevin Roberts (@ripkevinroberts) July 23, 2021

Greek here. What image did they use for a Greece I am wondering! I can see why some feel insulted but it’s quite funny too! We should not take everything very seriously in life…

— Kostas Tasoulis (@TasoulisKostas) July 24, 2021

Maybe a holy cow?

— Upsi Lupsi (@Upsilupsi) July 23, 2021

Nope! Its french fries.

— abb (@BeranaAngelito) July 23, 2021