But those are pretty minor issues compared to what happened when South Korea made its entrance at the ceremony. In both English and French, the delegation of 143 athletes was introduced to the crowd (and viewers across the globe) as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea — better known worldwide as North Korea.
The boat, however, correctly displayed the South Korean flag and another flag bearing the country’s official name of the Republic of Korea.
The International Olympic Committee immediately apologized, per ESPN:
“We deeply apologize for the mistake that occurred when introducing the Korean athletes during the broadcast of the opening ceremony,” the IOC’s official Korean language account said in a post on X.
IOC president Thomas Bach will speak with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday to further convey an apology over the incident, South Korea’s vice sports minister said in Paris.
North Korea does have a small delegation of 16 athletes appearing at the Olympics for the first time since Rio de Janeiro and were correctly introduced during the Opening Ceremony.
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