The International Olympic Committee (ICO) has apologized for a mix-up at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, in which South Korean athletes were introduced as North Koreans.
As the South Korean delegation sailed down the Seine River in the French capital, they were introduced to North Korea's official name: “République populaire démocratique de Corée” in French, and “Democratic People's Republic of Korea” in English.
“We deeply apologize for the mistake in introducing the South Korean team during the opening ceremony,” the IOC said in a post on its official Korean-language account at X.
The mistake sparked outrage in South Korea, a global cultural and technological powerhouse that is still technically at war with North Korea, a nuclear-armed, economically backward state.
South Korea's Sports Ministry said in a statement that it “expresses regret” over “the inaccuracy in the announcement during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, where the South Korean delegation was introduced as the North Korean team.”
Vice Sports Minister Jang Mi-ran, the 2008 Olympic weightlifting champion, requested a meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach to discuss the issue, the statement added.
The Sports Ministry also asked the Foreign Ministry to “convey a strong protest to the French side” over the issue, the statement said.
South Korea's National Olympic Committee plans to meet with the Paris Organizing Committee and the IOC to lodge a protest, ask for preventive measures to prevent a similar incident from happening again, and send an official letter of protest on behalf of its head of delegation, the sports ministry said.
North Korea is introduced by its official name.
Relations between the two Koreas are at their lowest point in years, with North Korea tightening military ties with Russia and sending thousands of balloons filled with trash into South Korea.
In response, Seoul’s military has broadcast K-pop music and anti-regime messages over loudspeakers along the border. Seoul has also recently resumed live-fire drills on border islands and near the demilitarized zone that divides the Korean peninsula. (ah/ft)
