Footage used without approval, ministry confirms

The contract producer of a video promoting Korea’s claim to the Dokdo islets in the East Sea allegedly used part of a video clip made by Japan’s NHK broadcasting station without permission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed yesterday.

The ministry confirmed that it had removed the video from its Web site and YouTube on Saturday, 11 days after they were published. NHK’s Seoul bureau raised the question Friday - Dokdo Day, coincidentally - and the ministry confirmed the incident with its contract producer, who admitted using the Japanese broadcaster’s material without approval.

“We are sorry [for the unauthorized usage of the NHK video],” said a spokesman from the ministry. “A grave measure will be imposed on the video producer.”

The spokesman said that a group of experts had reviewed the video “several times” before uploading it, adding that the ministry will revise and republish the video soon. “Since we were extremely focused on the content, the copyright issue failed to be taken care of,” the official said.

Korea’s 12-minute-long video promoting its claim to Dokdo contained a 10-second clip excerpted from a 2011 NHK TV drama that deals with the Russo-Japanese War. The ministry paid 66 million won ($62,200) to the producer, who started the project in December under the Lee Myung-bak administration.

Lee visited Dokdo in August, and the ministry decided to produce the video as a countermeasure against Japan’s ever-escalating territorial claim to the islets. The incident comes just a few days after Seoul requested that the Japanese government remove a video it launched last week renewing its claim to the islets, which it calls Takeshima.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said his ministry doesn’t plan to follow Korea’s request to remove the video.

BY SEO JI-EUN [spring@joongang.co.kr]