Photo/Illutration NHK President Nobuo Inaba apologizes on Aug. 22 at the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s headquarters in Tokyo for controversial comments made by the broadcaster’s news presenter. (Yusuke Miyata)

Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) dismissed a Chinese newscaster who made controversial comments during a broadcast that included referencing the Nanking Massacre and "comfort women."

In a live radio broadcast on Aug 19, the news presenter made off-script remarks in English, urging listeners to remember the 1937 Nanking Massacre, the comfort women issue and the notorious wartime Unit 731.

He also said that comfort women were wartime sex slaves, the public broadcaster reported on Aug. 22.

Comfort women were individuals who provided sex for the Japanese military before and during World War II. Many of them, from the Korean Peninsula, China and other parts of Asia, were forced into doing so.

The Imperial Japanese Army’s Unit 731 conducted biological experiments on Chinese and Russian prisoners and developed bacterial weapons.

The presenter also said in Chinese that the Diaoyu Islands have been Chinese territory since ancient times and he protested NHK's historical revisionism and unprofessional practices.

The uninhabited islets in the East China Sea, known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan, are controlled by Tokyo but also claimed by China and Taiwan.

The Chinese newsreader made the remarks during a news story about graffiti found at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine. The unscripted comments lasted about 20 seconds.

NHK aired the Chinese-language news program for Chinese-speaking audiences in Japan and overseas.

In the wake of the outrage sparked by the remarks, the broadcaster explained the matter to lawmakers.

“We deeply apologize as we consider this to be an extremely serious situation that violates our own international broadcasting standards,” NHK President Nobuo Inaba said on Aug. 22.

Inaba and senior NHK officials attended a meeting with a group of members from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party that discussed media policy.

The LDP lawmakers reportedly expressed serious concerns about the incident and questioned why it could not have been prevented.

The newscaster, a Chinese national in his 40s, translated and read news articles for NHK under contract with the broadcaster's affiliated organization.

The organization terminated his contract on Aug. 21.

NHK said it has lodged a strong protest against the newscaster through the affiliated organization. The broadcaster is considering taking legal action against him to seek damages.

To prevent a recurrence, NHK halted live broadcasting of its Chinese language radio news programs on Aug. 20 and instead began airing pre-recorded materials. Programs in other foreign languages will follow suit by the end of the month.

NHK also plans to use artificial intelligence to read news stories instead of human presenters.

The broadcaster also pledged to launch an internal investigation to determine the cause of the incident and strengthen its governance, with its vice president taking the lead.

NHK told The Asahi Shimbun that it did not immediately disclose the details of the newscaster's comments out of concern that doing so would only help him achieve his goal of spreading his personal views via the broadcasts.

However, the broadcaster changed its stance as the situation evolved, including the planned legal action against him.

NHK's international broadcasts are subsidized by the state to promote the government's views on political, diplomatic and social issues.

The minister of internal affairs and communications can also request that NHK conduct global broadcasts on specific topics.

NHK maintains that it broadcasts under its own editorial policies, prioritizing freedom of the media and editorial independence. 

However, there are concerns about growing government influence over the public broadcaster.

"While the recent incident highlights problems with our risk management, I'm concerned that it could lead to more political interference in our content," said an NHK employee.