New Delhi: There was a major blunder during the introduction of teams at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics as South Korea’s contingent was mistakenly introduced as North Korea. The gaffe left the organisers red-faced as they had to issue a ‘deep apology’ after South Korea objected to the grave error.
When the boat consisting of South Korea’s athletes sailed through the River Seine during the opening ceremony in Paris, the announcer introduced them as the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”, which is the official name of North Korea, much to the embarrassment of the organisers. The gaffe comes at a time when the political tensions between the two nations have intensified.
While the subtitles which ran on the television screen showed the correct title of South Korea, both the English and French announcers made the same mistake of introducing the South Korean delegation as North Korea. The same name was used by the announcers when the delegation from North Korea passed. A clip of the mistake went viral on social media.
South Korea introduced as Democratic People’s Republic of Korea aka North Korea in Paris 2024 🤣 pic.twitter.com/RtCVGE7wzZ
— @ (@anthraxxx781) July 27, 2024
South Korea’s sports ministry issued a statement after the opening ceremony, expressing ‘regret’ over the mistake made during the announcement. The ministry said it plans to take up the matter with the International Olympic Council (IOC) and lodge a ‘strong complaint’ with France at the government level as well.
“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,” South Korea’s sports ministry said in a statement.
IOC issues apology
After outrage on social media over the mistake by the announcers, the International Olympic Council (IOC) issued an apology to South Korea. The IOC released a statement on its Korean language account and offered its deep apology for the gaffe.
“We would like to offer a deep apology over the mistake that occurred in the introduction of the South Korean delegation during the opening ceremony,” said IOC.
South Korea which is also referred to as the Republic of Korea, has sent a strong contingent of 143 athletes for the Paris Olympics 2024. South Korean athletes will be competing across 21 sports and are medal favourites in table tennis, badminton, archery and shooting among others.
Meanwhile, North Korea has sent a contingent of 16 athletes for the Paris Games. North Korea will be competing in the Olympics for the first time since 2016 as they were not part of the last edition in Tokyo.
A controversy erupted after South Korea’s delegation was wrongly introduced as North Korea during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024 on Saturday. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
