The 2018 MGA has gone under fire for not including contested territories in one of the awards show scenes which showcases the Korean peninsula.
The 2018 MGA were held back on November 6 but it didn’t escape criticism for something that Korea and Japan have issues with.
During a segment showing TWICE member pointing on a map, the map didn’t include the islands of Ulleungdo or Dokdo (also known as the Liancourt Rocks). While South Korea controls the islets, its sovereignty over them is contested by Japan, this has also caused strain in the two countries relations.
Due to the backlash the awards show posted an apology to its official website, they wrote,
“During the broadcast of the 2018 MBC Plus X Genie Music Awards ceremony on November 6, Ulleungdo and Dokdo were removed from a screen that depicted the Korean peninsula.
This was a mistake made by our production team during the production process.
At MBC Plus, we are working on the wrong parts and will replace them quickly.
We apologize once again for those who have watched this broadcast and I will take care to prevent this from happening again.
MBC Plus are working on correcting this error and replacing it quickly.
Once again, we bow our heads in apology to everyone who watched the broadcast; we will take special care so such incidents never happen again.”
As it has been mentioned earlier, Japan and South Korea’s relationship is strained these days due to the South Korean Supreme Court recent order.
Late last month, South Korea’s Supreme Court ordered a Japanese company to compensate four Koreans for wartime labor during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea.
Japan, on the other hand, maintains that the matters of compensation have been settled back in 1965 with a treaty, for now political tension between the two countries is high.
The reactions online of netizens haven’t been that good, mostly negative, many questioning whether MBC did that intentionally or not. Some pointing out that MBC could have done that to avoid upsetting the Japanese artists and guests who also attended the awards show.
BTS has also recently backed out of an appearance on a Japanese music show and people believe its because of the political climate at the moment.
Source: (A)
