IOC apologises to South Korea over Olympics ceremony gaffe

PARIS (Reuters) -The International Olympic Committee apologised to South Korea on Saturday after its delegation of athletes were introduced as from rival North Korea at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

South Korea's vice minister for sports and culture, Jang Mi-ran, who was in Paris, said IOC President Thomas Bach planned to speak with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to convey an apology.

"It was clearly deeply regrettable and we apologise wholeheartedly," IOC spokesperson Mark Adams told a press conference on Saturday.

South Korea's National Olympic Committee immediately referred the incident to the Games' organisers and requested that the error will not be repeated.

South Korea's delegation includes 143 athletes competing in 21 events. North Korea, which is returning to the Games for the first time since Rio 2016, has sent 16 athletes.

South Korean social media users expressed dismay over the incident and some reacted harshly to the IOC's one-sentence apology saying it was not sincere.

The two Koreas have seen tensions rise over the North's weapons programmes and are sensitive over their political integrity, especially Pyongyang, which openly shows irritation when it is not referred to by its official name.

(Reporting by Jack Kim and Minwoo Park in Seoul and Karolos Grohmann in Paris; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Clelia Oziel)