IOC chief Bach to talk with President Yoon Suk-yeol after South Korea seeks assurances that mistake just isn’t repeated.
The Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) has apologised after mistakenly introducing the South Korean workforce as North Korean throughout the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
Crusing down the River Seine within the French capital like different delegations, the South Korean workforce was launched as representatives of the “Democratic Individuals’s Republic of Korea”, the official identify for North Korea, each in English and French.
The announcer used the identical introduction for the North Korean delegation.
“We deeply apologise for the error that occurred when introducing the South Korean workforce throughout the broadcast of the opening ceremony,” the IOC mentioned in a publish on its Korean-language X account after the error prompted displeasure amongst South Koreans.
IOC President Thomas Bach will even communicate with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Saturday to convey an apology, South Korea’s vice minister for sports activities and tradition, Jang Mi-ran, mentioned in Paris.
The 2 international locations are nonetheless technically at battle since their 1950-53 battle resulted in an armistice and a demilitarised zone, not a peace treaty. Tensions between the Koreas have been flaring in current months, with the 2 additionally suspending a key 2018 navy settlement.
South Korea’s Ministry of Tradition, Sports activities and Tourism mentioned in a press release on Saturday that it “expresses remorse” over the misguided announcement throughout the opening ceremony.
Jang, a 2008 Olympic weightlifting champion, additionally requested for a gathering with Bach to debate the matter, it added.
South Korea’s delegation consists of 143 athletes competing in 21 occasions. North Korea, which is returning to the video games for the primary time since Rio 2016, has despatched 16 athletes.
The nation’s Ministry of International Affairs mentioned it had contacted the French embassy in Seoul, which expressed remorse over an “incomprehensible mistake”.
South Korea’s Nationwide Olympic Committee mentioned it plans to fulfill the Paris Olympic organising committee and the IOC to voice their protest. The South Korean committee requested measures to stop this from occurring once more.
North Korea has been bolstering its ties with Russia amid its worldwide isolation.
Not less than one rubbish-carrying balloon despatched over the tense border landed on South Korea’s presidential compound earlier this week for the primary time.
North Korea has mentioned the balloons, greater than 2,000 of which have been deployed since Could, are a response to activists in South Korea floating leaflets and propaganda messages through loudspeakers geared toward undermining the regime of North Korean chief Kim Jong Un.
