To the French broadcaster that displayed the Taegukgi resembling the Rising Sun Flag... Seokyoungdeok demands "apology and correction"

French News Channel Displays Taegeukgi Incorrectly
Netizens Criticize as "Offensive"
Seo Kyung-deok Urges "Official Apology"

A French broadcaster recently sparked controversy by displaying a Taegukgi graphic resembling the Japanese Rising Sun flag, and on the 3rd, Professor Seokyung Deok from Sungshin Women's University announced that he sent a protest email urging correction.

Professor Seo explained on his Facebook that "On the 31st of last month, LCI, the international news channel of France's largest private broadcaster TF1, focused on the remarks made on the 5th day of the Workers' Party plenary meeting by Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of North Korea, and used an incorrect Taegukgi as the background screen." He added, "Korean netizens are posting various critical comments on the video such as 'Really unpleasant,' 'The level of French media,' and 'There could be no more insulting mistake than this.'"

[Image source=LCI YouTube]

In his protest email, Professor Seo demanded, "Issue an official apology for misrepresenting the national flag, which is the face of a country," and urged, "Take measures to allow viewers to correctly see the Republic of Korea's Taegukgi through the fastest possible correction report." He also stated, "So far, I have corrected many misused Taegukgi designs around the world," and "I will continue to make changes through protests in the future."

Earlier, on the 31st of last month (local time), French channel LCI reported on the 5th day of the Workers' Party plenary meeting remarks by Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, at around 2:37 PM, covering issues related to the Korean Peninsula. At that time, Chairman Kim defined inter-Korean relations not as relations between kin but as 'hostile relations between two states,' stating that "unification cannot be achieved."

While reporting the news, LCI inserted graphics of the national flags of South and North Korea on the broadcast screen. However, instead of the Taeguk symbol in the center of the Taegukgi, a red circle was drawn. At first glance, the graphic could be mistaken for the Rising Sun flag, prompting a flood of criticism from netizens. LCI's YouTube channel has 1.17 million subscribers.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.