Credits: ESPN
Olympic organizers have issued a “deep apology” after South Korean athletes were mistakenly introduced as North Korean at the opening ceremony in Paris.
As the enthusiastic, flag-waving South Korean team floated down the River Seine, both French and English announcers incorrectly introduced them as the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” – the official name of North Korea. The correct name was then used when North Korea’s delegation passed by.
Despite the correct subtitle running across the television broadcast, the error was significant given the longstanding and recently heightened tensions between the two Koreas since their division after World War Two.
In response, the South Korean sports ministry announced plans to lodge a “strong complaint with France on a government level” over the embarrassing error. In a statement, the ministry expressed “regret over the announcement… where the South Korean delegation was introduced as the North Korean team.” It added that second vice sports minister Jang Mi-ran, a 2008 Olympic weightlifting champion, had requested a meeting with Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) also issued an apology on its official Korean-language X account, stating: “We would like to offer a deep apology over the mistake that occurred in the introduction of the South Korean delegation during the opening ceremony.”
South Korea, formally known as the Republic of Korea, has 143 athletes competing across 21 sports in this year’s Olympics. North Korea has sent 16 athletes, marking its first participation since the Rio 2016 Games.