S. Korea TV 'broke rules' by showing rehearsal

By Li Xiaokun and Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-01 06:50

A South Korean TV channel breached established norms by telecasting footage of a rehearsal for the Olympic Games' opening ceremony on Tuesday.

A performer dressed as a soldier from the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) has his makeup done for a rehearsal in front of the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, at the Olympic Green in Beijing, July 30, 2008. [Agencies]

The Beijing Olympics organizing committee (BOCOG) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said this Thursday.

"We are disappointed that they did that," Sun Weide, spokesman for the BOCOG, said. Though the footage cannot give people the full picture of the grand opening ceremony, it is against universally accepted norms.

"We are investigating the incident... But the TV station has done the wrong thing," Sun said.

The South Korean TV channel SBS telecast part of the rehearsal that was held on July 16. A second rehearsal was held on Wednesday, and two more are scheduled for Aug 2 and 5.

The one-minute-footage included scenes of the unrolling of a carpet-like massive artwork, a group of children holding the Chinese flag and thousands of performers beating drums under flashing laser lights at the National Stadium, better known as the "Bird's Nest."

Contents of the 50-minute opening ceremony have been kept a top secret according to established Games' norms.

IOC sources said that even accredited photographers have to undertake an oath of secrecy not to let any images of the rehearsals be made public before the opening ceremony. Those who violate the oath face legal action and cancellation of their accreditation cards.

Rights-holding broadcasters are allowed to carry their cameras to the rehearsals but only to test their equipment.

Kevan Gosper, chairman of the IOC press commission, said: "Of course it's disappointing. To run that film is a breach (of rules). This has not happened before."

SBS tried to defend its action, saying it just wanted to show people part of the "majestic opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics" and to "raise an Olympic fever in South Korea".

"If the report has caused any unhappiness, we regret it," SBS said Thursday.

KBS and MBC, two other major South Korean TV networks, have condemned SBS for its "unprofessional act", and fear that the incident could lead to the cancellation of their reporting rights.

South Korean TV viewers, too, have criticized SBS's action.

"China has been preparing for the opening ceremony for years. Exposing such an event without permission is not understandable it is a loss of face for the entire South Korean media," reads a posting on SBS's online forum.

Chinese Angry

Many Chinese were infuriated by SBS's leakage, denouncing TV channel's lack of ethics.

"Hundreds of international media come to Beijing to report on the Olympic Games, but the South Korean TV station is the only one who has behaved so unethically," one comment said.

Some Internet users even suggested canceling the reporting rights of SBS.

A survey on Chinese website sina.com revealed more than 64 percent strongly condemned such behavior and more than 45 percent thought such an act had severely violated the journalistic code of ethics.

Other Internet users have questioned the security at the National Stadium.

"The quality of the footage shows that it was not taken secretly. How did they sneak the cameras into the venue and shoot the video without any interference?" one questioned.

A person who attended the July 16 rehearsal said there were no extra security checks for cameras and no warnings against video recording or photography.

"There was no warnings against video recording or photography before the rehearsal." But as the rehearsal unfolded, security guards started stopping people in the front row taking pictures, Xinhua quoted the source as saying.

The opening ceremony rehearsal opened to the public on July 30. About 70,000 people watched the rehearsal. "We were went through a security check and were warned against photography and video recording before the rehearsal began," said another source.

"But I could still see some people taking photos with their cellphones or flash cameras. The security was not as tight as I thought."

Chen Weiya, assistant director of the opening ceremony, told Beijing-based Caijing magazine that the opening event "will go on as scheduled without any disturbance (because of the SBS breach)".