IOC apologises for introducing South Korean athletes as North Korean

AL JAZEERA

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has apologised after mistakenly introducing the South Korean team as North Korean during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

Sailing down the River Seine in the French capital like other delegations, the South Korean team was introduced as representatives of the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”, the official name for North Korea, both in English and French.

The announcer used the same introduction for the North Korean delegation.

“We deeply apologise for the mistake that occurred when introducing the South Korean team during the broadcast of the opening ceremony,” the IOC said in a post on its Korean-language X account after the error caused displeasure among South Koreans.

IOC President Thomas Bach will also speak with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Saturday to convey an apology, South Korea’s vice minister for sports and culture, Jang Mi-ran, said in Paris.

The two countries are still technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice and a demilitarised zone, not a peace treaty. Tensions between the Koreas have been flaring in recent months, with the two also suspending a key 2018 military agreement.

South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said in a statement on Saturday that it “expresses regret” over the erroneous announcement during the opening ceremony.

Jang, a 2008 Olympic weightlifting champion, also asked for a meeting with Bach to discuss the matter, it added.

South Korea’s delegation includes 143 athletes competing in 21 events. North Korea, which is returning to the games for the first time since Rio 2016, has sent 16 athletes.

The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had contacted the French embassy in Seoul, which expressed regret over an “incomprehensible mistake”.

South Korea’s National Olympic Committee said it plans to meet the Paris Olympic organising committee and the IOC to voice their protest. The South Korean committee requested measures to prevent this from happening again.

North Korea has been bolstering its ties with Russia amid its international isolation.

At least one rubbish-carrying balloon sent over the tense border landed on South Korea’s presidential compound earlier this week for the first time.

North Korea has said the balloons, more than 2,000 of which have been deployed since May, are a response to activists in South Korea floating leaflets and propaganda messages via loudspeakers aimed at undermining the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

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