Korea’s national broadcasting channel, KBS, has apologized after airing a subtitle error that contained profanity.
On April 2, 2026 (KST), KBS live-streamed the launch of Artemis II on its official YouTube channel. However, during the broadcast, an issue with the AI auto-translation system caused profanity-laden subtitles to air as-is.
The problem occurred while translating communication from mission control. The aviation phrase “Roger, roll, pitch” was mistranslated as “Roger, roll, b*tch,” and the incorrect subtitle was displayed on screen. In aviation terminology, “Roger, roll, pitch” means “instructions received, adjusting the aircraft’s lateral and vertical orientation.”
The issue arose when the AI misinterpreted the technical term as slang and translated it into profanity. Viewers who caught the mistake during the live broadcast quickly spread clips of the moment across social media and online communities.
| @_hey.news_/Instagram
In response, KBS uploaded an official apology.
We sincerely apologize for the AI automatic translation error that occurred during the YouTube livestream of the Artemis II launch on April 2, 2026.
We deeply apologize to our viewers for the inappropriate language that resulted from a mistranslation. As soon as the issue was identified, we took immediate measures, including disabling the rewind function. We are currently in close discussions with relevant departments and external partners to prevent recurrence, and are exploring improvements such as strengthening AI profanity filtering.
— KBS
Meanwhile, Artemis II was successfully launched at 6:35 PM Eastern Time on April 1 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. This marks the first crewed lunar mission launch in approximately 53 years since Apollo 17 in December 1972. The mission is scheduled to last 10 days.
Watch the lift off here: