The South Korean Ministry of Sports has expressed deep regret following a blunder at the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony, where their athletes were mistakenly introduced as representatives of North Korea.

During the ceremony, South Korea's delegation was making its entrance as the 48th participating country, sailing down the River Seine. The French-speaking announcer introduced them as "Republique populaire democratique de Coree," the official name for North Korea, followed by "Democratic Republic of Korea" in English.

This error sparked significant displeasure in South Korea, a global powerhouse in culture and technology, which remains technically at war with its nuclear-armed and impoverished northern neighbor. The Korean War (1950-1953) ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas in a state of ongoing conflict.

The South Korean Ministry of Sports issued a statement expressing its "regret over the announcement at the Paris 2024 opening ceremony, where the South Korean delegation was introduced as the North Korean team."

In the statement, South Korea's Second Vice Minister of Sports, Jang Mi-ran, who is also an Olympic weightlifting champion from 2008, requested a meeting with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach to address the issue.

The ministry also urged the South Korean Foreign Ministry to "convey a strong protest to the French authorities" regarding the incident.

South Korea's National Olympic Committee plans to meet with the Paris Olympic Organizing Committee and the IOC to voice their objections, demand measures to prevent future occurrences, and send an official protest letter under the name of the head of their delegation, according to the Ministry of Sports.

At the same ceremony, North Korea, which entered as the 153rd country, was correctly introduced by its official name.

Following the backlash, Olympic organizers issued a deep apology for the mistake, acknowledging the error and expressing regret for the confusion caused.