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.