Who is Professor Robert Kelly and what happened during his viral BBC interview on South Korea?
The expert was giving his straight-laced opinion on South Korean politics as the chaos unfolded behind him
PROFESSOR Robert Kelly unintentionally became a viral star when his kids invaded a live BBC News interview.
The expert was giving his straight-laced opinion on South Korean politics as the chaos hilariously unfolded behind him - but who is he?
Who is Professor Robert Kelly?
Professor Robert Kelly is an associate professor of international relations in the Political Science and Diplomacy Department of Pusan National University in Busan, Korea.
Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, the 44-year-old moved to Korea in 2008 where he met his now wife, former yoga teacher and stay-at-home mum Jung-a Kim.
They have two children Marion, four, and nine-month-old James, who burst in on their dad's live BBC interview.
His father Joseph Kelly is a historian and has published a number of books, including the Origins of Christmas, and his mother Ellen is a high school English teacher.
Prof Kelly is a highly respected expert on South Korean politics and has written for outlets including Foreign Affairs, The European Journal Of International Relations and The Economist.
He has also been interviewed on network television for other outlets, including CNN, as well as CNBC, Sky News, and ITN.
In a biography on his blog, Kelly says he has also been a screenwriter, musician or a classicist.
He writes: "I enjoy film a lot... I also enjoy classical music very much (Austro-Germans mostly), and I read a lot of course.
"I find antiquity so fascinating that I took two extra years of grad school just to study Greek and Latin.
"Reading 'Socrates’ Apology' in the original is one of the great achievements of my life.
"I game sometimes; needless to say, I’m terrible."
He also says he speaks German, French, Russian, Latin, Korean, classical Greek and has travelled to about 40 different countries, including North Korea.
What happened during the Korea expert's live BBC interview?
Professor Robert Kelly was being interviewed live on BBC World News about the impeachment of South Korean president Park Geun-hye, when his daughter Marion, four, and nine-month-old son James burst in.
He was midway through answering presenter James Menendez's next question about Park Guen-hye when little Marion, dressed in a bright yellow jumper, is seen opening the door behind him and wandering into the room.
She swings her arms happily as she walks over to her dad, who has clearly spotted her on his screen and attempts to push her backwards out of the way.
The broadcaster continues to ask his next question while pointing out: “… I think one of your children has just walked in.”
Meanwhile nine-month-old James comes speeding into the room in his baby walker before the kids' panicked mum raced in to drag the cheeky duo away from the camera.
But it did not stop the live clip being viewed millions of times around the globe - even sparking a flood of memes.
Professor Kelly later addressed the incident in a follow up interview filmed in the same spot but this time with his whole family involved.
"If you watch the tape I was sort of struggling to keep my own laughs down. They’re little kids and that’s how things are," he said.
Kelly, who said he usually locks the study door, said: "I was mortified, but I also want my kids to feel comfortable coming to me.
“I made this minor mistake that turned my family into YouTube stars. It’s pretty ridiculous.”
The Asian politics expert added: "She was in a hippity-hoppity mood that day because of the school party.”
And when nine-month-old James tottered in, Kelly admits he knew ";it was all over".
Why did the viral clip cause controversy?
The clip also sparked an online racism debate because many assumed the children's mother was in fact their nanny on account of her ethnicity.
Many viewers on Twitter and Facebook were quick to jump to the conclusion that the panicked Asian woman in the funny clip was the family's nanny – but in reality she is the mother of the children and Robert Kelly’s wife.
Some media outlets also jumped to this conclusion – causing many to question why people were automatically assuming an Asian woman was the professor’s hired help.
The subject triggered fierce debate, with many labelling the assumption “systematically racist”, according to .
Jen McGuire wrote on : “Are we really still, in 2017, openly stereotyping?
“Seeing an Asian woman in a white man’s house with kids and telling ourselves: ‘Yep, that’s the nanny.”
Meanwhile, Korean viewers would probably have identified the woman as the mother straight away, as in the clip the older child seems to say: “Why? What’s wrong?” and “Mummy, why?”
, author of Bad Feminist, tweeted: “Today one of the funniest, most charming videos showed me that we have way more work to do than I ever thought.”
Another Twitter user wrote: "If you assume she is the nanny you are racist".
