IOC apologizes for South Korea gaffe in Paris Olympics opening

Paris 2024 Olympics – Opening Ceremony – Paris, France – July 26, 2024. Athletes of South Korea, Ivory Coast, Costa Rica and Democratic Republic of Congo aboard a boat in the floating parade pass the Musee du Louvre on the river Seine during the opening ceremony. (Photo by Peter Cziborra / POOL / AFP)

The International Olympic Committee apologized Saturday for a gaffe during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in which South Korean athletes were incorrectly introduced as North Korean.

As the South Korean delegation sailed down the Seine River in the French capital, they were introduced with the official name for North Korea: “Republique populaire democratique de Coree” in French, then “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” in English.

“We deeply apologize for the mistake that occurred when introducing the South Korean team during the broadcast of the opening ceremony,” the IOC said in a post on its official Korean-language X account.

READ: One-of-a-kind Paris Olympics opening ceremony: Five memorable moments

The error sparked displeased reactions in South Korea, a global cultural and technological powerhouse that is technically still at war with the nuclear-armed and impoverished North.

South Korea’s sports ministry said in a statement it “expresses regret” over the “announcement during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, where the South Korean delegation was introduced as the North Korean team”.

Second vice sports minister Jang Mi-ran, a 2008 Olympic weightlifting champion, has asked for a meeting with IOC chief Thomas Bach to discuss the matter, it added.

The country’s foreign ministry said in a statement it had contacted the French embassy in Seoul which expressed regret over what it said was an “incomprehensible mistake.”

READ: Team Philippines sails into Paris Olympics opening ceremony

South Korea’s National Olympic Committee also plans to meet with the Paris Olympics Organising Committee and the IOC to voice their protest, request measures to prevent a recurrence, and send an official letter of protest under the name of the head of its delegation, Seoul’s sports ministry said.

North Korea was correctly introduced with the country’s official name.

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with the North bolstering military ties with Russia while sending thousands of trash-carrying balloons to the South.

In response, Seoul’s military blasts K-pop and anti-regime messages from border loudspeakers and recently resumed live-fire drills on border islands and near the demilitarized zone that divides the Korean peninsula.