The International Olympic Committee apologized Saturday for an error during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in which South Korean athletes were incorrectly portrayed as North Koreans.
As the South Korean delegation sailed down the Seine River in the French capital, it was introduced by North Korea’s official name: “Republique populaire democratique de Coree” in French, then “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” in English.
“We deeply apologize 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 blunder sparked angry reactions in South Korea, a global cultural and technological power that is still technically at war with impoverished, nuclear-armed North Korea.
South Korea’s sports ministry said in a statement that it “expresses regret” over the “announcement during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where the South Korean delegation was introduced as the North Korean team.”
Second Vice Sports Minister Jang Mi-ran, a 2008 Olympic weightlifting champion, has requested a meeting with IOC chief Thomas Bach to discuss the matter, he added.
The country’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it had contacted the French embassy in Seoul, which expressed regret over what it called an “incomprehensible mistake.”
South Korea’s National Olympic Committee also plans to meet with the Paris Olympic Organizing Committee and the IOC to voice its protest, request measures to prevent a repeat and send an official letter of protest under the name of its delegation head, Seoul’s sports ministry said.
North Korea was correctly introduced with the official name of the country.
Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with the North strengthening its military ties with Russia while sending thousands of garbage-carrying balloons to the South.
In response, Seoul’s military has been broadcasting K-pop and anti-regime messages from border loudspeakers and recently resumed live-fire exercises on border islands and near the demilitarized zone dividing the Korean Peninsula.
