"Is Taekwondo Ninja?"...Canadian Sports Channel Faces Backlash Over Inappropriate Labeling

[Financial News] A prominent Canadian sports channel is facing public outrage after introducing a Taekwondo video with the title 'Ninja'.
Seo Kyoung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women's University, stated on the 25th, "I learned about this through tips from netizens. Upon checking, I found that The Sports Network (TSN), one of Canada's largest sports channels, recently posted a Taekwondo training video on its official social media account with the title 'NINJA TRAINING?'."
He added, "The video is quickly going viral on Instagram, with around 170,000 likes so far."
TSN, launched in 1984, is Canada's first sports channel. Locally, it is considered one of the two leading sports channels alongside Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN). For this reason, criticism is mounting that 'the more influential the media, the greater the need for accuracy.'
A similar incident occurred during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics last year. At that time, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) posted a Taekwondo-related video on its official social media account, tagging it with a 'judo' hashtag, which sparked controversy. In response, Professor Seo and netizens strongly protested the mislabeling, and the IOC corrected the mistake.
Professor Seo emphasized, "The continued occurrence of such incidents indicates that many foreigners still misunderstand the country of origin of Taekwondo. In these situations, rather than simply expressing criticism and anger, it is most important to make legitimate protests and work toward proper corrections."
In fact, both domestic and international netizens who viewed the video posted on the Canadian channel have left comments such as, "Taekwondo is a Korean martial art, so why use a Japanese term?" and "A sports channel should at least know basic facts." Some have reportedly sent direct correction requests to the TSN account.
[email protected] Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter