A South Korean broadcaster has apologized for using “inappropriate” images and captions to depict some countries competing in the Tokyo Olympics — including using a photo of Chernobyl for Ukraine and pizza for Italy.
Seoul-based MBC also posted reports of the recent assassination of President Jovenel Moïse as Haitian athletes walked into the Tokyo stadium during opening ceremonies, The Guardian said in a report.
The network flashed a picture of Dracula for Romania, pizza for Italy and salmon for Norway.
It referred to the US Marshall Islands, meanwhile, as “once a nuclear test site for the United States.”
The disastrous depictions left the news outlet red-faced.
“Inappropriate images and captions were used to introduce some stories,” the network, officially the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, said in a statement.
“We apologize to those countries, including Ukraine and our viewers,” it said.
Athletes from other nations were depicted with more benign — and sometimes bizarre — images and information.
For instance, Great Britain’s entrance into the arena included an image of Queen Elizabeth II, while El Salvador, where cryptocurrency is the legal tender, was depicted with a bitcoin symbol, the newspaper said.
