KUALA LUMPUR – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) president, Thomas Bach, has personally reached out to South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol, to apologise for the mistake in the audio broadcast during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Friday.
During the opening ceremony, the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) was wrongly identified as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).
Foreign press had earlier reported that the error sparked displeased reactions in South Korea, a nation that is technically still at war with the nuclear-armed and impoverished North.
In a statement issued on the IOC website early today, it is learned that Bach made a phone call to Suk-yeol to personally apologise for the gaffe.
"Today, IOC president Thomas Bach spoke with the president of the Republic of Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol.
"In this telephone call, the IOC president apologised sincerely for the mistake in the audio broadcast of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 last night, in which the team of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Korea (KSOC) was wrongly identified.
"The problem was identified as a human error, for which the IOC is deeply sorry," read the statement.
It was noted that the IOC president was joined in the call by the CEO of Paris 2024, Étienne Thobois, Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of Olympic Broadcasting Services, and IOC member and KSOC President Lee Kee-heung.
Separately, Bach congratulated Suk-yeol for South Korea’s win of its first medal at the Games, which was a silver won by the 10m air rifle mixed team.
Earlier, Scoop reported that France's unique approach to the opening ceremony, which saw the event take place outside a stadium, on the River Seine, had drawn harsh criticism from viewers worldwide.
To add to this, there were also reports of arson attacks on France's high-speed TGV rail network on the day of the ceremony. – July 28, 2024
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