For being a supposed Asia expert, Joshua Ramo made quite the blunder with his statements about Korea and Japan during the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics:
Joshua Ramo
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.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but problem number is one is to claim “every Korean will tell you”. It would be more accurate to say some Koreans may believe Japan was important to the development of South Korea, but many other would disagree which is quite evident by the simmering tensions remaining today. Problem number two is why even go down this political rabbit hole during the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics? Can’t these commentators just talk about the athletes and their accomplishments?
NBC News is going to be putting the spotlight on USFK this week:
NBC’s Lester Holt will anchor Nightly News from South Korea Monday and Tuesday for what NBC calls “unprecedented access to the U.S. military’s combined air, ground and naval capabilities.”
Holt’s reporting trip comes as tensions rise in the region and a day after Defense Secretary Mattis said North Korea must be stopped from its ability to threaten a nuclear attack. [TVNewser, hat tip Jodi]
