Olympics Organizers Apologize For Identifying South Korean Team As North Korea During Opening Ceremony

2 months ago 17

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The Olympic team from the Republic of Korea waves their flag aboard a boat on the Seine River during the 2024 Summer Olympics' opening ceremony in Paris

Flagbearer Sanghyeok Woo of Team Republic of Korea stands on a boat on the River Seine during the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games on July 26, 2024 in Paris, France. Tom Weller/VOIGT/GettyImages

The International Olympic Committee has issued an apology after kicking off the 2024 Summer Olympics with an unfortunate error.

IOC spokesperson Mark Adams addressed “deeply regrettable” error during a press conference on Saturday after announcers during Friday’s opening ceremony announced the team from the Republic of Korea (South Korea) as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).

“We apologize wholeheartedly,” said Adams, adding: “An operational mistake was made. We can only apologize in an evening of so many moving parts that that mistake was made. And we apologize to people from the Republic of Korea for that. Sorry for that error.”

IOC President Thomas Bach also apologized for the mistake during a phone call with the Republic of Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol. Additionally, he congratulated the country on their first Olympic medal of the year after the 10m air rifle mixed team took home silver.

South Korea has competed at the Olympics since 1948, with North Korea making their first appearance at the 1964 Olympics.

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s delegation sails in a boat along the river Seine during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympic on July 26, 2024 in Paris, France. (Kirill Kudrtavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)

A similar gaffe took place on Sunday when the South Sudanese basketball team made its Olympic debut after being introduced to the wrong national anthem. Following confusion and booing from fans, the track was stopped after about 20 seconds and the correct one was played.

South Sudan ultimately won 90-79 in their first Olympic basketball game against Puerto Rico on Sunday.

IOC also issued an apology after the opening ceremony depicted a scene that appeared to be recreating Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’ with drag queens, explaining that the intention was “always to celebrate community and tolerance” and not “to show disrespect towards any religious group or belief.”

Meanwhile, the ceremony’s artistic director Thomas Jolly said the painting was “not my inspiration and that should be pretty obvious,” explaining: “The idea was to depict a big pagan celebration, linked to the gods of Olympus, and thus the Olympics.”