A Japanese TV station has apologised for putting words into the mouths of South Korean interviewees, saying there had been a mistake in the subtitling of one of its programmes.

A section on Fuji TV's current affairs show Akira Ikegami Kinkyu Special broadcast incorrect subtitles that suggested two interviewees had said they "hated" Japan.

In one of the clips a highschool girl was incorrectly subtitled as saying "I hate Japan because it tormented Korea".

In fact, she is heard in the footage saying in Korean that South Korea "has a rich culture, I think that’s why many foreigners visit us".

Another interviewee, a man in his 30s, was also incorrectly subtitled to say he "hated" Japan, when he was criticising Japan for its attitude to its wartime treatment of South Korea.

The show prompted criticism of the channel online.

But an article on the Japan Times website on Monday quoted Fuji TV as explaining the subtitles had been written in error.

The company reportedly said that both interviewees had spoken of a dislike for Japan during their interviews, although those clips had not been broadcast.

"We aired these inaccurate clips because of a mix-up during the editing process as well as our failure to check the final footage sufficiently," the Japan Times reported the broadcaster as saying.