The International Olympic Committee apologised to South Korea on Saturday after its sports delegation was introduced as representing its northern neighbour at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Paris yesterday.
“It is certainly very unfortunate and we deeply apologise,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said at a news conference today.
The South Korean National Olympic Committee immediately referred the incident to the Games organizers and asked them not to repeat the mistake.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called on IOC President Thomas Bach today to avoid repeating any such mistake.
Yoon’s office said he told Bach that Koreans were surprised and astonished by the incident and expressed hope for the success of the Olympics.
The South Korean delegation includes 143 athletes participating in 21 competitions.
North Korea, which is returning to the Olympics for the first time since Rio 2016, sent a delegation of 16 athletes.
South Korean social media users expressed their dismay over the incident, with some reacting harshly to the IOC’s one-sentence apology, saying it was insincere.
The two Koreas have seen heightened tensions over North Korea’s weapons programmes and are sensitive about their political independence, particularly Pyongyang, which is publicly irritated when it is not referred to by its official name.
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