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| Joshua Cooper Ramo |
By Jung Min-ho
NBC Sports analyst Joshua Cooper Ramo has been relieved from its PyeongChang Olympic coverage after enraging many Koreans with ignorant remarks about their country.
An NBC Sports spokesperson, who refused to be named, told The Korea Times Sunday that Ramo has been removed from the role.
"It was possible for him to do more with us here; now it is no longer possible," the official said.
Ramo angered Koreans here and overseas by saying during the opening ceremony on Friday, "Every Korean will tell you that Japan is a cultural and technological and economic example that has been so important to their own transformation."
NBC apologized for the comment.
"NBC issued an apology in a written letter to the PyeongChang Organizing Committee, and on air, regarding the comments made by one of our presenters during our coverage of the opening ceremony," the official said. "NBC has great respect and admiration for South Korea and its people."
The official explained that NBC hired Ramo "to serve as an Asia expert during the opening ceremony. His role was to give an overview to our viewers of the host country and this region of the world."
But his incorrect and insensitive comment about Korea's history angered many people. Tens of thousands of Koreans and non-Koreans alike criticized the statement on social media, urging NBC and Ramo to correct the misinformation and apologize.
But the former NBC analyst has not apologized.
Japanese rule (1910-45) is one of the most sensitive political issues for Koreans, who suffered enormously during that period.
In the United States, the Olympics is exclusively broadcast on NBC.
2018 평창동계올림픽 개회식 도중 부적절한 발언을 해 논란이 됐던 조슈아 쿠퍼 라모씨가 NBC 스포츠 방송국 올림픽 취재에서 제외됐다.
NBC 스포츠 대변인은 일요일 코리아타임스의 질문에 답하며, 라모씨가 평창올림픽 해설자 역할에서 제외됐다고 말했다.
앞서 라모씨는 중계 도중 '일본이 1910년부터 1945년까지 한국을 강점했던 국가지만, 모든 한국인은 발전 과정에 있어 일본이 문화 및 기술, 경제적으로 중요한 모델이 되었다고 말할 것'이라고 해 공분을 일으킨 바 있다.
NBC는 또 '평창 올림픽 조직위원회에 보낸 이메일과 생방송에서 그 발언에 대해 사과했다'고 밝혔다. 또한 'NBC는 대한민국과 그 국민들에게 대단한 존중과 존경을 갖고 있다'고 말했다.
대변인은 NBC가 라모씨를 고용한 이유는 “아시아 전문가로서 올림픽 개최국과 아시아 지역의 시청자들에게 평론을 제공하기 위함'이었다고 말했다.
그렇지만 그의 발언은 많은 국민들 사이에서 큰 공분과 논란을 일으켰고, 일부에서는 '정부 차원에서 공식 항의해야 한다'는 주장도 나왔다.
라모씨는 아직 발언에 대해 사과하지 않았다.
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