Seoul demanded an explanation, the International Olympic Committee apologized to South Korea for the mistake.
Photo: Tom Weller/VOIGT/GettyImages
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has apologized to South Korea for the error that occurred in the opening of the Summer Games in Paris on July 27.
As the boat carrying the South Korean athletes sailed down the Seine, announcers announced in French and English that it was a DPRK delegation. However, their name was spelled correctly on the banner and in the captions. The presentation of the DPRK delegation that attended the opening ceremony was flawless.
South Korea’s sports ministry demanded a meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach as well as an explanation from the IOC and the Olympic Organizing Committee. The ministry asked the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to file a government-level complaint with France to prevent this from happening again.
Afterwards, the International Olympic Committee issued a statement on social media: “We apologize for the error that occurred in the introduction of the South Korean expedition at the opening ceremony.”
The conflict between the DPRK and South Korea has been ongoing since the war on the peninsula in the early 1950s, which involved foreign powers the United States, the Soviet Union and China.
