A week after the opening of the Paris Olympics on July 26th, South Korea has been hit with a series of mishaps, including the incorrect introduction of the country’s name and flag. When the South Korean team was announced as “North Korea” at the opening ceremony, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach called South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol to apologize. However, there are still no signs of an end to the mistakes surrounding South Korea, and South Korean media is reporting the indignation of the people.

Worst ever

When the South Korean team appeared on a boat on the Seine at the opening ceremony, the on-site announcements in English and French mistakenly introduced North Korea’s official name as the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” On the 27th, Bach apologized to Yoon, saying, “Something that leaves no room for excuses has happened, and I deeply apologize,” and Yoon also criticized him, saying, “The Korean people are also confused.”

The Korean Athletic Association, which also serves as the Korean Olympic Committee, sent a letter of protest on behalf of the athletes to the organizing committee and the IOC.

The South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported that the opening ceremony featured “the worst mistakes ever,” but mistakes have continued to occur since then.

Regarding the opening ceremony, when the official Instagram account of the Paris Olympics introduced each country’s delegation on board the boat, only South Korea was shown with its back to the athletes, and the focus was on the bridge behind them, making the athletes and the flags they were holding blurred.

“sanguk” → “sangku”

On the 27th, when Oh Sang-wook of South Korea won the men’s sabre individual final in fencing, the official Instagram account mistakenly posted his name as “Oh Sang-ku.” On the 31st, the company posted a video introducing taekwondo, South Korea’s national sport, but initially used the hashtag “#Judo.”

The organizing committee is not alone. Local media in France also took issue with the Korean national flag, Taegeukgi, by reporting only the red of the two-color circle in the center, red and blue, and by mistakenly reporting it as the Chinese flag. In an article published on the 31st, the Korean news site “xportsnews” expressed concern that “misrepresentations of Korea continue to be made in reports about the Olympics,” and published a comment from an expert who pointed out, “It is important to correct this through legitimate protests, not just criticism and anger.”

However, it seems that France’s mistake was not aimed only at Korea.

In an article published on the 29th, Global Times, an English-language newspaper affiliated with China’s People’s Daily, cited the mistake of raising the Chinese flag at the awards ceremony for Argentine athletes as an example, and pointed out that “the organizing committee is not targeting Korea.” (Okuhara Shinpei)