Paris, July 28, 2024, The Europe Today: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued an apology on Saturday after mistakenly introducing South Korea’s athletes as being from North Korea during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The error occurred as the South Korean delegation sailed down the Seine River in the French capital on Friday evening. The team was mistakenly introduced as representing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the formal name for North Korea. In contrast, South Korea is officially known as the Republic of Korea. Despite the mistake, the sign on the boat carrying the South Korean athletes displayed the correct name.
France is hosting its seventh Olympic Games, including Winter Olympics, which will run until August 11.
IOC’s Response
“We deeply apologize for the mistake that occurred when introducing the South Korean team during the broadcast of the opening ceremony,” the IOC said in a post in Korean on X, formerly known as Twitter. IOC spokesperson Mark Adams described the error as “clearly deeply regrettable.”
“An operational mistake was made. We can only apologize, in an evening of so many moving parts, that this mistake was made,” Adams stated in response to a question from a South Korean journalist during a news conference.
Seoul reacted strongly to the blunder, with President Yoon Suk Yeol expressing bewilderment to IOC Chief Thomas Bach. Yoon requested that the error not be repeated, and Bach acknowledged the incident as “inexcusable.”
South Korea’s sports ministry called the gaffe an “incomprehensible mistake,” and Seoul announced plans to file “a strong government-level complaint” with the French government.
Historical Context and Current Tensions
North and South Korea remain technically at war since the 1950-1953 Korean War ended without a peace treaty, although active hostilities ceased. Relations between the two neighbors are currently strained, with tensions high over North Korea’s military and nuclear activities. Both countries are sensitive about their national identities, with North Korea particularly insistent on being referred to by its official name.
North Korea has recently faced criticism for strengthening ties with Russia, agreeing to provide immediate military assistance if either country faces armed aggression.
South Korea’s Olympic delegation includes 143 athletes competing in 21 events, while North Korea, returning to the Games for the first time since Rio 2016, has sent 16 athletes.
Past Olympic Incident
This recent gaffe is the second instance of an Olympic mishap involving Korea. During the 2012 London Olympics, a South Korean flag was shown on a jumbo screen just as a North Korean player was introduced before a women’s soccer match. The match was delayed for nearly an hour when the North Korean team refused to take the field.
In another glitch at the end of Friday’s opening ceremony in Paris, the Olympic five-ring flag was displayed upside down, adding to the evening’s errors.
