Korean gov't demands Turkish TV apologize for false report

A Turkish broadcaster shows Ivanka Trump and Moon Jae-in, pictured together during Ivanka’s visit to Korea last month, describing them as “a millionaire businessman and his wife” and saying they had been “arrested.” / Yonhap

A Turkish broadcaster uses a picture of President Moon Jae-in to represent a suspect in the murder of a Filipina maid. / Yonhap

By Jung Min-ho

The Korean government has called on a Turkish broadcaster to apologize for using President Moon Jae-in’s image falsely as a murder suspect.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Sunday it has repeatedly demanded Show TV, a Turkey-based TV channel, apologize after it used Moon’s image on a news program on Feb. 25 to represent a murder suspect who allegedly killed a Filipina maid.

The broadcaster also reportedly described Moon and Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka as a “killer couple,” showing a photo taken during her visit to Korea for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics last month. It identified them as a “millionaire businessman and his wife.”

The broadcaster deleted the video online after South Korea’s embassy in Ankara complained about it but has not yet aired an official apology.

“We made multiple complaints to the broadcaster through our embassy there immediately after the program was aired,” the ministry said in a statement. “We have also called for assurances to prevent similar accidents from happening.”

The incident came into the media spotlight here after Koreans living in Turkey reported it to the ministry.

“If their president was falsely described as a murder suspect in other countries, the Turkish people and the government would ask for an apology too,” a Korean man living in Turkey was quoted as saying.