NHK Apologizes After April Fool Tweet About North Korea

TOKYO – Public broadcaster NHK apologized this week after an April Fool tweet from its official PR account on Sunday suggesting that Japan was going to shift to North Korean-style news broadcasting.

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The tweet, on April 1, announced that NHK would be merged with all the Japanese commercial broadcasting stations to form a state-run network, on which the news would be read by a kimono-clad announcer “in front of a blue background in a slightly alarmed voice.”

While not mentioning North Korea by name, the tweet was clearly poking fun at the state broadcaster of the totalitarian nation, where the news is read in just such a fashion.

The tweet, which ended with the hashtag #April Fool, was taken down and an apology issued.

A spokesperson for NHK told The Hollywood Reporter that the organization had received “a few complaints” and that the tweet had been taken down because it was deemed “inappropriate to be on NHK’s official PR account.”