IOC Apologizes for South Korea-North Korea Mix-Up at Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony
- The IOC has apologized for mistakenly introducing South Korea's athletes as representatives of North Korea during the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
- South Korea's National Olympic Committee expressed strong regret and demanded assurances to prevent future errors.
- North Korea returns to the Games for the first time since 2016, sending a delegation of 16 athletes.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has issued an apology following a significant blunder during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, where South Korea's delegation was mistakenly introduced as being from North Korea. This incident occurred as the South Korean athletes were parading on the Seine, with the announcer referring to them as the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea," the official name for North Korea, in both French and English. Despite the blue sign on their boat displaying the correct name, the error sparked immediate backlash. In response to the incident, South Korea expressed its regret and demanded assurances from the event organizers to prevent a recurrence. The IOC's Korean language account acknowledged the mistake, stating, "We deeply apologize for the mistake that occurred when introducing the Korean athletes during the broadcast of the opening ceremony." IOC President Thomas Bach is scheduled to speak with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to further convey the committee's apologies. South Korea's vice sports minister emphasized the importance of rectifying the situation, stating, "We express regret that the country was introduced as North Korea at the opening ceremony." The South Korean National Olympic Committee has formally referred the matter to the Games' organizers, insisting that such an error should not happen again. The South Korean delegation comprises 143 athletes competing in 21 events, while North Korea, returning to the Olympics for the first time since Rio 2016, has sent 16 athletes to participate.