PyeongChang Olympics update: NBC apologizes to S. Koreans for analyst’s remark

SHARE PyeongChang Olympics update: NBC apologizes to S. Koreans for analyst’s remark
pyeongchang_olympics_opening_ceremony_74135415.jpg

Yuna Kim, former South Korean figure skater lights the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Friday, Feb. 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

NEW YORK — NBC has apologized to South Koreans for an on-air remark by an analyst that cited Japan as an example that has been important to the country’s own transformation.

The remark was made by analyst Joshua Cooper Ramo during NBC’s coverage of Friday’s opening ceremony. He was noting the significance of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit.

“Every Korean will tell you that Japan is a cultural and technical and economic example that has been so important to their own transformation,” Ramo said.

An online petition quickly circulated demanding an apology, and NBC did on its NBCSN cable network Saturday and formally to the Pyeongchang Olympic organizing committee.

Japan occupied Korea from 1910 to 1945. Petitioners said anyone familiar with Japanese treatment of Koreans during that time would be deeply hurt by Ramo’s remark. They also criticized the accuracy of giving Japan credit for South Korea’s resurgence.

The petition had more than 10,000 supporters on Sunday.

“We believe that staying silent is not an appropriate response to such ignorant, insensitive, and harmful information that defies the very spirit of peace, harmony, and human dignity of the Olympics,” it said.

NBC said in a statement Sunday it was gratified that local Olympic officials accepted the apology. The network said that South Korea and its Olympic organizers have been “exceptional hosts in every way.”

Ramo, a former journalist at Time magazine, is co-CEO at Kissinger Associates and had been hired temporarily by NBC to bring historical context to its coverage.

The network said his assignment at the Olympics is now over.

The Latest
The man was found unresponsive in an alley in the 10700 block of South Lowe Avenue, police said.
The man suffered head trauma and was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center, police said.
Another federal judge in Chicago who also has dismissed gun cases based on the same Supreme Court ruling says the high court’s decision in what’s known as the Bruen case will “inevitably lead to more gun violence, more dead citizens and more devastated communities.”
Women make up just 10% of those in careers such as green infrastructure and clean and renewable energy, a leader from Openlands writes. Apprenticeships and other training opportunities are some of the ways to get more women into this growing job sector.
Chatterbox doesn’t seem aware that it’s courteous to ask questions, seek others’ opinions.