MBC's 'Newsdesk' has found itself embroiled in a subtitle controversy following its recent report on the popular plastic knife toy, 'Carrot Knife,' among elementary school students. During the report, a child was interviewed, demonstrating the toy and explaining its use. However, discrepancies arose between the spoken words and the subtitles, leading to a wave of criticism from netizens.

Viewers questioned the intent behind the subtitles, as they appeared to alter the meaning of the interview. For instance, the subtitles showed the student explaining "You can stab with this. Beat up girls," however the spoken words seemed to suggest, "You can stab with this. Girls use it too". This mismatch fueled suspicions of a deliberate distortion of the narrative.

Netizens voiced their concerns, with some wondering if the news was attempting to depict a gender-based conflict with misleading subtitles. Others found it implausible that elementary school students would confidently discuss beating up girls to adults they didn't know, casting doubt on the authenticity of the dialogue.

In response to the controversy, the video and content from the News Desk report were deleted without explanation. Instead, MBC's 'News Today,' which aired on November 22 KST, published a new article titled "Elementary School Students Use 'Carrot Knives', Can Even Pierce Pineapples," utilizing only the uncontroversial part of the earlier interview and omitting the contentious subtitle segment.