The Today show was mocked when South Korean flags were displayed during a segment on the death of former Shinzo Abe.
A reporter for the NBC News programme told viewers on Friday about the assassination of the former Japanese prime minister when the flags were shown.
“Gun violence is exceptionally rare in Japan”, said the Today show amid footage of famous Tokyo landmarks.
Showing a scene involving South Korean flags, the segment added: “Its gun laws are among the most stringent in the world”.
Despite the similarities between the two flags, most social media users and viewers were able to spot the difference.
“Ummmm, wrong country, TODAY show,” wrote journalist Curtis Houck in a tweet. “NBC News, your morning show has some issues with keeping the countries in Asia straight.”
“I want to know how they ended up with this photo? They obviously didn’t type ‘Japanese flags’ on Google images”, another Twitter user asked.
“They’re going to blame a summer intern for this,” argued another Twitter user, adding: “poor kid.”
“For the love of God..please teach more geography in American schools,” said another.
While it was unclear if NBC News had commented publicly on the error on Friday, world leaders paid tribute to Mr Abe.
He was shot during a campaign event in the city of Nara, in an assassination that has shocked Japan, where such killings are rare.
Unlike the US, gun ownership and gun violence is low.
The Independent has approached NBC for comment.
