SEOUL (THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, NEW YORK TIMES) – US broadcaster NBC has apologised for a controversial comment made on Korea-Japan relations during last Friday’s (Feb 9) opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Games, after receiving numerous complaints and angry posts online..
SEOUL (THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, NEW YORK TIMES) – US broadcaster NBC has apologised for a controversial comment made on Korea-Japan relations during last Friday’s (Feb 9) opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Games, after receiving numerous complaints and angry posts online.
It was NBC’s Asian correspondent, Joshua Cooper Ramo, who said “every Korean” thinks Japan has been a very “important” example to South Korea’s own achievements.
Many South Koreans, as well as Korean-Americans, found the comment to be insensitive to the nation’s own history, including Japan’s colonial rule from 1910-1945.
His “insensitive” comment, which came when he noticed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan in the crowd, sparked a storm of complaints from South Koreans on social media.
“Hey NBC, you forgot the Olympics were in Korea?” wrote a South Korean Twitter user. “Joshua Cooper Ramo should not speak for Koreans and obviously doesn’t know any Koreans either. Nobody will tell you we are thankful for Japan occupation and they are not an example.”
Some say it’s questionable whether Ramo has been even following the news leading up to the current Olympics, as some of the disputes between South Korea and Japan erupted even during the preparation phase of the Games.
Ramo’s remarks appeared to reinforce growing concerns among some South Koreans that the United States was favouring its partnership with Japan over that of its other longtime ally in the region, South Korea.
A host of thorny issues complicate the bilateral relations between South Korea and Japan, including issues surrounding “comfort women”, or women used as sex slaves by the Japanese military during World War II.
