The IOC have issued an apology
Olympic Games organisers have been forced to apologise after they introduced South Korea’s athletes as North Korea during the opening ceremony.
As their boat floated down the Seine and South Korean athletes waved their nation’s flag, they were introduced in both French and English as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
South Korea is the Republic of Korea.
In a post on X, written in Korean, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said: “We deeply apologize for the mistake that occurred when introducing the Korean team during the opening ceremony broadcast.”
The South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism slammed the IOC for the mistake and Vice Minister Jang Mi Ran demanded a meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach.
In a statement, the ministry also requested South Korea’s Foreign Ministry to file a ‘strong government-level complaint’ with the French government.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Olympic Committee asked the organisers of the Paris Games to prevent a recurrence of the mishap.
The flag aboard the boat carrying the athletes displayed the correct name.
The Korean peninsula has been divided into South Korea and North Korea since the end of World War II in 1945.
It wasn’t the only controversial moment in a ceremony that was unique to say the least.
Renowned Catholic Bishop, Robert Barron, who boasts almost 300k followers on social media, has slammed the portrayal of The Last Supper during the opening ceremony as a “gross mockery”.
The decision to include a woman with a decapitated head singing from the window of a building, also did not go down very well with viewers.
However, Celine Dion was praised for her performance on top of the Eiffel Tower as her powerful rendition of Edith Piaf’s L’Hymne A L’Amour concluded the spectacle.
