SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea expressed regret that its delegation of athletes at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday was introduced as from rival North Korea and has demanded assurances from organisers the mistake will not happen again.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) apologised for the mistake which happened when the announcer introduced the team during a boat parade on the Seine as the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” – the official name of North Korea – in French and English.
The announcer used the same introduction when the North Korean delegation passed.
South Korea’s vice minister for sports and culture, Jang Mi-ran, who was in Paris, has requested a meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach, the ministry said in a statement.
“We express regret that the country was introduced as North Korea at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games when the athletes of the Republic of Korea were entering,” it said.
Jang later told South Korean media that Bach planned to speak with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday by telephone to convey an apology over the incident.
South Korea’s National Olympic Committee immediately referred the incident to the Games’ organisers and requested that the error will not be repeated.
The IOC said the incident was a mistake and offered “a deep apology” on the Korean language handle it runs on X.
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.
South Korean social media users expressed dismay over the incident and some reacted harshly to the IOC’s one-sentence apology saying it was not sincere.
The two Koreas have seen tensions rise over the North’s weapons programmes and are sensitive over their political integrity, especially Pyongyang, which openly shows irritation when it is not referred to by its official name.
(Reporting by Jack Kim and Minwoo Park; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Clelia Oziel)
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