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The boat carrying team South Korea at Paris Olympics opening ceremony (Reuters)
South Korea’s athletes were introduced as North Korea during the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
Olympic Games organisers said they “deeply apologise” for introducing South Korea’s athletes as North Korea during the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday in the French capital.
South Korea too expressed regret that its delegation of athletes was introduced as from rival North Korea and has demanded assurances from organisers the mistake will not happen again.
As the boat carrying South Korean athletes passed on the Seine, the announcer introduced them as the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” – the official name of North Korea – in French and English. South Korea is the Republic of Korea.
The announcer used the same introduction when the North Korean delegation passed.
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“We deeply apologise for the mistake that occurred when introducing the Korean team during the opening ceremony broadcast,” the International Olympic Committee said in a post on X in Korean.
The South Korean Ministry of Culture Sports and Tourism Vice Minister Jang Mi Ran requested a meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach over the incident, the ministry said in a statement Saturday. It said the ministry also asked South Korea’s Foreign Ministry to file “a strong government-level complaint” with the French government.
The statement said South Korea’s Olympic committee separately asked the organisers of the Paris Games to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents.
The Korean peninsula has been bitterly divided into South Korea and North Korea since the end of World War II in 1945.
The blue sign on the boat carrying the South Korean athletes did show the correct name.
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South Korea’s vice minister for sports and culture, Jang Mi-ran, who was in Paris, had requested a meeting with International Olympics Committee 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.
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.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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