Olympics’ IOC Apologizes For Introducing South Korea As North Korea

At the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Friday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) introduced South Korea’s delegation of athletes as from North Korea.

Paris Olympics’ IOC apologizes after introducing South Korea as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

The IOC has since apologized for the ceremony error. South Korea expressed regret after the incident and has demanded assurances from organizers the mistake will not happen again.

As the boat carrying South Korean athletes passed on the Seine River, the announcer introduced them as the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” — the official name of North Korea — in French and English.

The blue sign on the boat carrying the country’s athletes did show “South Korea.” The announcer used the same name introduction when the North Korean delegation passed.

IOC spokesperson Mark Adams on Saturday called the error “clearly deeply regrettable.”

Olympic Games organizers said they “deeply apologize” for introducing South Korea’s athletes as North Korea during Friday’s opening ceremony in Paris. #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/kKBr1fS53r

— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) July 27, 2024

“An operational mistake was made. We can only apologize, in an evening of so many moving parts, that this mistake was made,” Adams said.

“We deeply apologize for the mistake that occurred when introducing the Korean athletes during the broadcast of the opening ceremony,” the IOC’s official Korean language account said in a post on X.

IOC president Thomas Bach will speak with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday to announce a more genuine apology. This was reported by South Korea’s vice sports minister in Paris.

“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,” the ministry said.

South Korea’s delegation includes 143 athletes competing, while North Korea has sent just 16 athletes

Furthermore, South Korea’s National Olympic Committee immediately referred the incident to the Games’ organizers and requested that the error will not be repeated.

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 just 16 athletes.

North Korea and South Korea are complete opposites politically. The former is a dictatorship while the latter is a democracy. Both countries technically remain at war. The Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice, but no formal peace treaty has been established since then.

A 2021 poll conducted by Seoul National University’s Institute for Peace and Unification Studies revealed that 44% believed reunification is necessary. The survey was available to respondents between July and August.

The in-person poll surveyed 1,200 people between the ages of 20 and 74. The figure represents the lowest number of people who believe reunification is necessary since the poll’s inception in 2007.

Additionally, a poll conducted in June 2022 by the National University Advisory Council found that 73.4% wanted better relations. However, just 28.5% said they wanted a single Korean state.

The Paris Olympics run from Friday, July 26 through Sunday, Aug. 11.