'개그콘서트' 송중근이 선보인 새코너가 '만수르'서 '억수르'로 이름을 바꿔 눈길을 끌고 있다.
지난 20일 오후 방송된 KBS2 '개그콘서트'에서는 '만수르'라는 이름으로 첫 방송된 코너 이름을 '억수르'로 변경해 전파를 탔다.
이는 첫 방송 뒤 한국석유공사 측이 국제석유투자회사(IPIC)의 사장이자 아랍에미레이트 부총리인 만수르에 외교적 결례가 될 것을 우려해 개그콘서트 제작진에게 코너명 변경을 요구해 이뤄진 것으로 알려졌다.
만수르서 억수르로 코너명 변경에 네티즌들은 "만수르서 억수르로 코너명 바뀐 이유 진지하네" "만수르서 억수르로 바뀐 이유, 그렇군" "만수르서 억수르로, 억잘 바꿨다" 등의 반응을 보였다.
Gag Concert changes ‘Mansour’ to ‘Uhksour’ to avoid diplomatic tensions
State broadcaster KBS and state-run oil company Korean National Oil Corp. are pointing fingers over the name change of a comedy skit on “Gag Concert” over fears it could cause political tension.
The dispute began as KBS said on Sunday that its comedy show “Gag Concert” changed the name of popular sub-segment skit “Mansour” to “Uhksour,” following a request from the Korean National Oil Corp.
The comedy skit centers on the massive wealth of oil tycoons from the oil-producing countries of the Middle East.
KBS said the KNOC requested that the skit’s name be changed, as the audience may associate the name with His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE.
As a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi, the sheikh is the deputy prime minister and minister of presidential affairs of the UAE, as well as the half-brother of the current president of the UAE, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
However, KNOC dismissed KBS’ allegation as totally groundless.
“We have never visited KBS (for that matter) and was surprised at the news articles. There was no such a thing. We have never made such a request,” a spokesperson of KNOC told The Korea Herald.
The spokesperson also said it is uncertain whether Gag Concert’s use of the name “Mansour” could deteriorate Korea’s diplomatic ties with the UAE, citing the case was unprecedented.
Despite KNOC’s denial, KBS insisted that it was the state oil company that pushed for the replacement of the skit’s title.
A spokesperson for the KBS entertainment team told reporters through a text message, “According to our producers, it is true that the Korean National Oil Corp. paid a visit. While the ‘Mansour’ skit corner had not received any complaints on such occasion, the state company seems to have been preemptively anxious.”
The spokesperson also wrote, “The skit corner’s name itself was not that big of a deal for us, so (we did not mind changing it to) ‘Uhksour,’ which is associated with ‘extremely hilarious’ in the Gyeongsang provincial dialect.”
By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)
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