20 to One segment about K-pop band BTS sparks outrage in South Korea

A 'disgusting' and 'racist' segment on Channel Nine's 20 to One that mocked K-pop band BTS has sparked international outrage, becoming the biggest news story in South Korea overnight.

The widespread outrage over the two-minute segment led television news bulletins across the East Asian country on Friday, after thousands of BTS fans flooded Twitter with complaints over the program's 'xenophobic' overtones.

The free-to-air network was also a trending topic on Twitter in both Australia and Korea, with the hashtags '#channel9apologize' and '#channel9racist' going viral.  

One BTS fan summarised the outrage by tweeting: 'Literally every sentence said in this video is problematic and is filled with racial undertones and xenophobia.

'Dear 20 to One, you should definitely reflect and apologise for this disgusting, misinformed report about BTS.'

'Apologise to BTS, you coward,' another person wrote, this time tweeting directly to 20 to One host Erin Molan herself. 

K-pop fans also labelled the network 'racist', with the hashtag #Channel9Racist being included in more than 17,400 tweets as of Thursday night.

One person tweeted: 'If your idea of humour is demeaning an artist's career and ideology by making them look shallow and superficial, while making disgusting and inappropriate racist comments, then you have failed pathetically. You should be ashamed.' 

The problematic 20 to One segment had repeatedly mocked BTS, beginning with Erin introducing them as 'the biggest band you've never heard of' before an awkward reference to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un was made. 

Several celebrity guests and comedians then made snarky and disrespectful comments about the band.

'When I first heard something Korean had exploded in America, I got worried,' British comedian Jimmy Carr said.

'So I guess, it could've been worse - but not much worse,' he added, as footage of the group performing was shown. 

Erin then expressed surprise at the group's chart-topping success in America, because 'only one band member actually speaks English'.

Former Australian Idol star Rob Mills also took a swipe at the group's singing abilities as 20 to One played an out-of-context clip of BTS member Jimin's voice cracking on stage during a performance.

Comedian Mel Buttle later suggested that BTS should fire four of their seven members, because she felt that there were too many of them.

Erin and co-host Nick Cody took things even further by mocking the group's work with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

While playing a clip of BTS discussing their philanthropic efforts in a speech to the UN last year, the pair joked that they must have been speaking about 'hair products'.

BTS

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