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A South Korean broadcaster has apologized after using offensive images to represent several countries at the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Friday.
MBC posted photos and facts about each country as the athletes stepped out in the Parade of Nations. Most of them ranged from insane to weird: British athletes were accompanied by a photo of the Queen, and El Salvador, where cryptocurrency is legal tender, was summed up by a bitcoin symbol.
Others offered basic stereotypes. MBC used a photo of Dracula for Romania, pizza for Italy, and salmon for Norway.
However, there were others that drew criticism. When the Ukrainian athletes stepped outside, MBC projected an image of the Chernobyl disaster, which is considered the worst nuclear accident in history and devastated much of the surrounding region. The Marshall Islands have been described as “once a nuclear test site for the United States”.
Haitian athletes, meanwhile, were accompanied by photos of men demonstrating in front of an explosion and the words “the political situation is blurred by the assassination of the president”. Jovenel Moïse, President of Haiti, was killed at his home earlier this month.
Rather than focusing on Syria’s rich culture and historic sites, MBC said it was known for its “underground resources; a civil war that has lasted for 10 years ”.
After a backlash on social media, the broadcaster issued an apology. “Inappropriate images and captions have been used to present some stories,” MBC said in a statement. “We apologized to these countries, including Ukraine and our viewers.”
The opening ceremony was a more subdued event than usual with spectators absent from the stadium due to Covid-19 restrictions. Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka lit the Olympic cauldron to kick off the Games.
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