SEOUL: The International Olympic Committee apologised on Saturday, July 27, for an error that occurred during the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony, wherein athletes from South Korea were mistakenly identified as North Koreans.
The official name for North Korea was announced to the South Korean delegation as they sailed down the Seine River in the French capital: “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” in English, later translated as “Republique populaire democratique de Coree” in French.
The IOC posted on its official Korean-language X account, “We sincerely apologise for the error when introducing the South Korean team during the opening ceremony broadcast. South Korea, a global cultural and technological powerhouse technically still at war with the nuclear-armed and impoverished North, responded angrily to the error. The sports ministry of South Korea released a statement expressing their “expressed regret” for the incorrect announcement.
It further stated that 2008 Olympic weightlifting champion Jang Mi-ran, the second vice sports minister, has requested a meeting with IOC head Thomas Bach to discuss the issue. According to the statement, the foreign ministry has also been asked by the sports ministry to “deliver a strong protest to the French side” regarding the matter.
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