South Korea gets official IOC apology for North Korea mix-up

IOC President Thomas Bach called the mistake “very regrettable” in a letter addressed Saturday to South Korean Culture Minister Yu In-chon and the heads of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee and the Korean national team.

South Korean athletes participate in the floating parade on the Seine during the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Friday in Paris. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Sunday it received an official apology from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for erroneously introducing South Korean athletes as North Korea during the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

IOC President Thomas Bach called the mistake “very regrettable” in a letter addressed Saturday to South Korean Culture Minister Yu In-chon and the heads of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee and the Korean national team, according to a Culture Ministry press release.

Public address system announcers during the Opening Ceremony in Paris on Friday incorrectly introduced South Korean athletes using the official name for North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in both French and English. South Korea is officially the Republic of Korea.

Bach had apologized over the phone to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol earlier the same day, saying the incident was inexcusable and that he is deeply and sincerely sorry, according to a press release from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee Saturday.

President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach delivers a speech during the rainy opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in Paris on Friday. [AFP/YONHAP]

“As I discussed with President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea this morning, I sincerely apologize for the mistake of misrepresenting the athletes of the Republic of Korea NOC (Korea Olympic Committee) in the audio broadcast of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics [Friday] night,” Bach wrote in the letter, dated July 27, from Paris.

“Once again, I would like to express my sincere and deepest apologies for the very regrettable mistake caused by the television commentator's mistake in introducing your NOC squad representing the Republic of Korea at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“Please rest assured that the IOC is working with all partners to ensure that this does not happen again during the Olympics.”

The IOC has not explained exactly how the incident happened as of press time.

Friday's gaffe pulled the IOC into one of the tensest geopolitical conflicts in the world. South and North Korea have remained technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice agreement that has been regularly tested by intermittent flair-ups over the past 70 years.

The incident was not the first time an Olympics has mislabeled one of the Koreas. At the 2012 London Olympics, the North Korean women's football team walked off the pitch in protest after the South Korean flag was incorrectly shown alongside the team details. London 2012 organizers apologized for that blunder, blaming human error.

BY MARY YANG, JIM BULLEY, PAIK JI-HWAN [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]