News Footage of 'Taegukgi and Gwanghwamun' Amid Abe's Death News... US NBC's Bizarre Mistake

The US NBC Today Show reported the news of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who died from a shooting, and showed footage featuring the South Korean Taegeukgi flag.
[Photo by NBC Today Show]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] The US NBC made a mistake by showing South Korea's Taegeukgi flag as stock footage while reporting the news of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's death by shooting.

On the 8th (local time), NBC's Today Show reported the urgent news of former Prime Minister Abe's death. Around 11:30 a.m. that day, the media included subtitles and stock footage stating that former Prime Minister Abe was shot while campaigning for the House of Councillors in front of Yamato Saidaiji area, Nara City, Nara Prefecture, Japan, then collapsed and was urgently transported to the hospital but died due to excessive bleeding.

However, the stock footage showed South Korea's Taegeukgi flag. Additionally, Gwanghwamun, a symbol representing South Korean history, was also shown on screen. This is presumed to be a mistake caused by the media's failure to distinguish between the flags of South Korea and Japan.

Regarding this, one netizen pointed out that the footage was "incorrect" and that the material was not related to Japan. Another netizen criticized, saying, "Even 'elite journalists' like NBC cannot distinguish between the flags of South Korea and Japan." Curtis Hook, an American journalist, also pointed out NBC's mistake, saying, "The country is messed up."

The footage is spreading through social networking services (SNS), but NBC has not yet issued an official statement on this matter. The video remains on their YouTube channel as is.

The US NBC Today Show reported the news of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who died from a shooting, and showed footage of Gwanghwamun in South Korea as archival footage.
[Photo by NBC Today Show]

Meanwhile, this is not the first time NBC's reporting has caused controversy in South Korea. Previously, during the broadcast of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics opening ceremony, NBC faced severe criticism for remarks that glorified Japan's colonial rule.

At that time, one of the commentators, Joshua Cooper Ramo, said as the Japanese team entered, "Although Japan occupied Korea from 1910 to 1945, all Koreans would say that Japan became an important model culturally, technologically, and economically during their development process."

In response, Korean Americans in the US immediately posted protest messages on the internet and SNS. The PyeongChang Organizing Committee also promptly conveyed their protest to NBC. NBC bowed their heads and apologized on the morning live broadcast, saying, "We acknowledge and apologize for the offense felt by Koreans." Joshua Cooper Ramo, who made the remarks, was completely excluded from commentary roles related to the PyeongChang Olympics.