Major Blunder at Paris Olympics: S Korea Wrongly Introduced as North Korea, IOC Issues Apology

Paris: In a major blunder at the grand opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024, South Korean athletes were left embarrassed after they were wrongly introduced as North Korea on Friday, July 25.

This happened when the South Korean athletes and officials sailed down the Seine River as their delegation was being introduced with the official name for North Korea.

The names were first introduced in French followed by English translation.

"Republique populaire democratique de Coree" in French and then "Democratic People’s Republic of Korea" in English.

This blunder sparked huge reactions in South Korea, which is already in a tiff with the North over its repeated nuclear drills.

Following this, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued an apology.

"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 X.

Meanwhile, South Korea's Sports Ministry expressed regret over the error and delivered a strong protest to the French side.

"We deeply apologise for the mistake that occurred when introducing the South Korean team during the broadcast of the opening ceremony," the statement by the ministry read.

"Second Vice-Sports Minister Jang Mi-ran, a 2008 Olympic weightlifting champion, has asked for a meeting with International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach to discuss the matter," it added.

The ministry also stated that South Korea's National Committee plans to meet the Paris Olympics Organising Committee and the IOC to 'voice their protest' and request for measures to prevent a recurrence. It will also send an official letter of protest under the name of the head of its delegation