Paris: In a major blunder, the South Korean contingent at the Paris Olympics 2024 Opening Ceremony was wrongly introduced as North Korea on Friday. As the South Korean athletes and officials sailed down the Seine River, the announcer introduced the delegation with the official name for North Korea: “Republique populaire democratique de Coree” in French and then “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” in English.
Certainly, the error sparked huge reactions in South Korea who is in constant tiff with the nuclear-armed North. Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued an apology for the blunder. “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.
개회식 중계 중 대한민국 선수단 소개 시 발생한 실수에 대해 깊이 사과드립니다.
— 올림픽 (@Olympic) July 26, 2024
The South Korean Sports Ministry also expressed regret over the announcement. In a statement, South Korean second vice Sports Minister, Jang Mi-ran, who is also a 2008 Olympic weightlifting champion, asked for a meeting with IOC president Thomas Bach to discuss the matter.
The statement also added that the South Korean sports ministry has asked the foreign ministry to “deliver a strong protest to the French side” over the issue. It said that the South Korea’s National Olympic Committee has also planned to meet the Paris Olympics Organising Committee and the IOC to voice their protest.
