IOC chief Bach will speak to President Yoon Suk-yeol after South Korea seeks assurances the mistake will not be repeated.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has apologized after misrepresenting the South Korean team as North Korean during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
Sailing along the Seine River in the French capital, like other delegations, the South Korean team was presented as representing the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”, the official name of North Korea, both in English and French.
The announcer used the same introduction for the North Korean delegation.
“We deeply apologize for the error that occurred in presenting the South Korean team during the opening ceremony broadcast,” the IOC said in a post on its X account in Korean, after the error caused discontent among South Koreans.
IOC President Thomas Bach will also speak to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Saturday to offer an apology, South Korean Vice Minister of Sports and Culture Jang Mi-ran said in a statement. Paris.
The two countries are still technically at war since the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice and a demilitarized zone, not a peace treaty. Tensions between the Koreas have risen in recent months, with the two also suspending a key 2018 military agreement.
South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said in a statement Saturday that it “expresses regret” over the erroneous announcement during the opening ceremony.
Jang, the 2008 Olympic weightlifting champion, also requested a meeting with Bach to discuss the matter, he added.
South Korea’s delegation includes 143 athletes competing in 21 events. North Korea, which returns to the games for the first time since Rio 2016, sent 16 athletes.
The country’s Foreign Ministry said it had contacted the French embassy in Seoul, which expressed regret for an “incomprehensible error.”
South Korea’s National Olympic Committee said it plans to meet with the Paris Olympic organizing committee and the IOC to voice its protest. The South Korean committee requested measures to prevent this from happening again.
North Korea has strengthened its ties with Russia in a context of international isolation.
At least one garbage-carrying balloon sent across the tense border landed at South Korea’s presidential complex earlier this week for the first time.
North Korea said the balloons, more than 2,000 of which have been launched since May, are a response to activists in South Korea who release leaflets and propaganda messages through loudspeakers aimed at undermining the North’s regime. -Korean Kim Jong Un.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
