IOC Issues Apology for South Korea Error During Olympics Opening Ceremony

The International Olympic Committee issued an apology on Saturday for an error that occurred during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. The South Korean athletes were mistakenly introduced as North Korean athletes.

The South Korean delegation was introduced with the official name for North Korea, “Republique populaire democratique de Coree” in French, and “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” in English, as they sailed down the Seine River in Paris.

“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 official Korean-language X account.

The error elicited negative reactions in South Korea, a global cultural and technological leader that remains technically in a state of conflict with the impoverished North, which possesses nuclear weapons.

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee subsequently reported on Saturday that it had received a message from the IOC indicating that its leader, Thomas Bach, desired to personally apologize to the South Korean president over the phone.

Earlier, South Korea’s sports ministry said in a statement it “expresses regret” over the “announcement during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, where the South Korean delegation was introduced as the North Korean team”.

The second vice sports minister, Jang Mi-ran, who is also a 2008 Olympic weightlifting champion, has requested a meeting with the IOC president, Bach, to address a specific matter.

The country’s foreign ministry said in a statement it had contacted the French embassy in Seoul which expressed regret over what it said was an “incomprehensible mistake”.

North Korea was accurately presented by using the official name of the country.

The relationship between the two Koreas is currently experiencing a significant decline, as the North strengthens military connections with Russia and sends numerous balloons filled with trash to the South.

In retaliation, Seoul's military broadcasts K-pop music and messages against the regime through border loudspeakers, and has recently restarted live-fire exercises on border islands and near the demilitarized zone that separates the Korean peninsula.