IOC head intends to phone South Korean president over North Korea gaffe: KSOC

IOC President Thomas Bach expressed his intention to apologize to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for the North Korea opening ceremony gaffe through a phone call, according to a press release by the KSOC on Saturday.

Team Korea takes part in the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Friday in Paris. [YONHAP]

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) said Saturday that International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has expressed a desire to apologize to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for introducing South Korea as North Korea during the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

Bach expressed his intention to apologize to Yoon for the gaffe through a phone call, according to a press release by the KSOC on Saturday.

Announcers at the Opening Ceremony Friday introduced South Korea with the official name for North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in both French and English. South Korea is the Republic of Korea.

Following the incident, South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Second Vice Minister Jang Mi-ran requested a meeting with Bach. The ministry also asked the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs to file a strong government-level complaint to the French government.

The IOC said on X, through its Korean-language account, Saturday: “We deeply apologize for the mistake that happened when introducing Team Korea during the opening ceremony broadcast.”

IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said the committee apologizes "wholeheartedly" for the "deeply regretable" error in a conference shared on its English-language X account later Saturday.

"An operational mistake was made. We can only apologize in an evening of so many moving parts that that mistake was made and we apologize to the people from the Republic of Korea for that," Adams said.

The IOC did not explain how the gaffe happened.

Bach has yet to release his statement about Friday’s incident as of press time Saturday.

The KSOC said in Saturday’s press release that the Paris Olympics organizing committee head had promised to apologize on Saturday and the IOC is also preparing an official apology statement.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]