2024-07-28 15:09:29
This is the first time that the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games and the athlete parade are outside the field. Athletes from the Olympic countries participated in the parade on the famous Seine River in Paris, France, by boats, barges and small boats.
There, one by one, the teams’ athletes were being introduced to the commentary as they crossed the river Seine. The name of the country, which continent, how many participated, when they played in the Olympics for the first time, how many medals they won in the last event, where they were in the medal list, etc.
When the South Korean team arrived on a barge during the naval parade, the commentary introduced them as North Korea. Not only that, when the North Korean team arrived they were introduced in the same way (as North Korea).
The South Korean government has been distressed by this matter. Their Sports Ministry, Foreign Ministry and Olympic Committee have expressed dissatisfaction with this. They have asked the International Olympic Committee to know about the matter and to ensure that such mistakes do not happen in the future.
However, as soon as this happened, the South Korean Olympic Committee informed the organizing committee of the Paris Olympics. And requests that such mistakes not be made in future.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Minister of State for Sports and Culture Jang Mi-ran (2008 Olympic gold medalist) was in Paris at the time. After the incident, he requested to discuss the matter with IOC President Thomas Bach. Not only that, South Korea’s Sports Ministry has asked their Foreign Ministry to strongly protest the incident.
Meanwhile, the IOC apologized for such an unexpected incident. In a statement written in Korean on their official X account, they apologized, saying, ‘We deeply regret the misrepresentation of South Korea at the opening ceremony. Apologies for the matter.’
A total of 143 athletes from South Korea participated in 21 events in this year’s Olympics. On the other hand, North Korea, which participated in the Olympics again after 2016, sent only 16 athletes to the Paris Olympics.