The president of MBC has issued an apology over the local broadcaster's controversial coverage of the Tokyo Olympics' opening ceremony.

Bowing at 90 degrees in a Monday press conference, Park Sung-jae said he sincerely apologizes to viewers offended by the broadcaster's portrayal of certain countries during the opening ceremony relay, adding it was inconsiderate and lacked discretion.

He said the broadcast damaged the Olympic spirit of friendship, solidarity and unity especially in light of the fact that the Games are taking place in the middle of a pandemic.

Park said last weekend was the most painful and disastrous time as head of MBC. He said the initial review of the incident showed that the issue goes deeper than disciplining a few officials, as it concerns more systematic matters of how regulations are perceived and contents are edited. 

The president promised a thorough investigation to determine the cause and those responsible, as the broadcaster undergoes a major overhaul including setting up an ethics committee and contents review system to prevent a recurrence.

Lastly, he pledged to work toward enhancing mindsets to respect universal human rights, cultural diversity and gender equality in the production of all broadcast contents, not limited to sports.

MBC has been slammed for using inappropriate, offensive images and captions in introducing a number of countries during the opening ceremony on Friday.

A photo of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was shown as the Ukrainian delegation entered. Bitcoin images were shown for El Salvador, while a picture of Dracula was featured for Romania's delegation.

Images of protests and captions indicating the recent presidential assassination were shown when athletes of Haiti entered the stadium.