IOC apologises for South Korea gaffe in Olympics opening ceremony

The International Olympic Committee apologised 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 apologise 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.

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 presidential office said late Saturday that the IOC chief, Thomas Bach, apologised to President Yoon Suk Yeol over the phone for what Bach said was as an “inexcusable incident”.

Yoon told Bach that South Koreans — who have hosted both the summer and winter Olympics as well as the World Cup — were “bewildered” by the mixup, and that it should not occur again, his office said.

Earlier, 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”.

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”.

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 demilitarised zone that divides the Korean peninsula.