[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] The government is considering requesting an investigation to determine whether the company that included a map of Pyongyang instead of Seoul in the opening video of the '2021 P4G Seoul Green Future Summit' did so intentionally.
An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters on the 18th, "There are aspects of the company's explanation that are not convincing regarding whether the video was included by simple mistake or intentionally, so we are considering requesting an investigation by an external expert agency."
On the 30th of last month, a map of Pyongyang was inserted into the opening video of the P4G Summit held at Dongdaemun Digital Plaza in Seoul, causing a major controversy. On the 1st, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong ordered a thorough investigation at the ministry level, and subsequently, the Planning and Coordination Office conducted a first investigation from the 4th to the 10th, and the Audit Office carried out a second investigation from the 14th to the 17th.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, event agency company A, which had a contract with the government, outsourced video production to company B, and then company B commissioned company C for the special part involving motion graphics, where the problem occurred.
Company C tried to obtain footage zooming out from the Han River to the Earth for the video production, but mistakenly purchased footage containing scenes of Pyongyang from a stock footage site.
The original intention was to include footage zooming out from Seoul, where the summit was held, to the Earth, but company C mistakenly purchased footage containing Pyongyang from the stock footage site. Although the video file titles included words like 'pyongyang' and 'north korea,' the person in charge did not check them.
Later, the preparation planning team participated and held three video screening rehearsals, but no one noticed the problem.
The preparation planning team stated that they were not informed in advance about the inclusion of the Pyongyang scenes, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held them responsible for management. An official said, "Final content inspection and approval is the main task of the planning team," and added, "We concluded that they effectively neglected their management responsibility."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to hold event agency company A accountable for management responsibility and pursue claims for damages, and intends to discipline 4 to 5 related personnel, including the planning team.
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