K-netizens were left shocked by the recent announcement mistake that took place at the 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony, in which South Korea was mistakenly identified as North Korea. During the Ceremony, the South Korean delegation was announced as the ‘Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,’ which is North Korea, rather than the ‘Republic of Korea,’ which is the correct term for South Korea.
The event left many K-netizens frustrated and disappointed with the IOC’s (International Olympic Committee) mistake. However, it appears the IOC prepared a quick response.
On July 27, the IOC President Thomas Bach contacted President Yoon of South Korea to apologize for the incident. The 10-minute phone call gave President Yoon the opportunity to express his thoughts on the incident and ask the IOC president to prevent it from happening again.
The following photograph depicts the IOC president in the midst of that phone call.
During the phone call, President Yoon stated, “As people of the country that has hosted the Summer and the Winter Olympic Games, along with the FIFA World Cup, South Koreans were quite surprised and dismayed with this incident.” He added, “I'd like to ask you to apologize for this incident through media and social media, and to ensure against a recurrence of similar incidents. I hope that the rest of the Olympic Games will proceed successfully and serve as the true festival for the people around the world.”
In response, the IOC president offered his sincere apologies and promised that he would take any measures necessary to prevent a similar incident from happening.
President Lee of the National Olympic Committee of South Korea made a statement as well, clarifying that the IOC is taking this incident very seriously. “There have been instances where our national flag, Taegeukgi, was hung upside down, but having our country called North Korea in both English and French is so preposterous that I could never have imagined that,” President Lee stated. “I asked the IOC and the Paris organizing committee to directly and sincerely apologize for this."
It is also reported that the International Olympics Committee has an upcoming meeting planned to discuss the incident and make plans to avoid similar occurrences in the future.
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