‘protocol’ reasons canceled meeting
A meeting between Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Jang Jang-ran and Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) President Lee Ki-heung has been canceled following a bizarre incident in which South Korean athletes were introduced as North Koreans at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
“I just heard that the scheduled meeting was canceled, citing the IOC’s protocol of not arranging another meeting as the dialogue between the leaders (President Yun Suk-yul and Bach) has been concluded,” Vice Minister Jang said at 2:30 p.m. (local time) on Sunday at the Main Press Center (MPC) in Paris, France.
“I was only told that there had been a change to the meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m.,” she said, adding that as she was nearing the end of the meeting, she was informed that the meeting had been canceled altogether, citing IOC protocol, ”but it’s protocol, so I can’t do anything about it.”
The incident, which occurred at the opening ceremony of the last Olympic Games, was effectively put to rest when IOC President Bach called Yun directly to apologize.
According to the Korea Sports Federation, Bach called President Yun at 1 p.m. local time and said, “There is no excuse for the incident that occurred yesterday and I would like to express my deepest apologies on behalf of all Olympic officials, including the IOC, the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee, and broadcasters. I ask the President to accept my apology,” he said, adding, ”I empathize and understand the feelings of the Korean people because my home country, Germany, has also experienced division in its history.” The call was attended by Sports Minister and IOC Member Lee Ki-heung, Honorary Ambassador of the Korean Sports Federation Kim Jong-hoon, CEO of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee Etienne Tebois, and CEO of Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) Iannis Jasso.
President Yun said, “As a country that has hosted the Winter Olympics and the soccer World Cup, the Korean people are very surprised and embarrassed by this incident. I asked the IOC to provide an appropriate explanation to the media and make corrective efforts through social media and the media,” according to the KOC.
In addition to Bach’s apology to Yun, a meeting between Vice President Roh Jang-ran and IOC President Lee Ji-heung was also scheduled. The meeting was actually scheduled to take place at 5:30 p.m. local time on Nov. 27 (0:30 a.m. on Nov. 28) at the IOC headquarters in Paris. In addition to Bach, Paris Organizing Committee President Estaingue and the OBS officials responsible for the controversy were expected to attend.
However, the scheduled meeting was canceled when Bach apologized to the President. The meeting was canceled as part of the IOC’s protocol to not hold any further meetings with President Bach as he 안전놀이터 apologized directly to the president. “There were a number of other issues that I would have liked to have discussed and asked him about (in addition to this controversy),” said Mr. Rosellan.
Earlier, during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, the announcer twice explained North Korea’s French and English names during the introduction of the South Korean athletes. The announcers said “République populaire démocratique de Corée” in French and “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” in English, even though the announcement screen showed “Republic of Korea” as the correct name. The South Korean athletes were introduced as North Korea twice during their entrance.
Aware of the controversy, the Korean athletes raised the issue with the Paris Organizing Committee’s NOC representative and held an official protest meeting. During this process, the IOC confirmed that OBS, the IOC’s broadcaster, was responsible for the broadcast error. An official protest letter was sent to the Paris Organizing Committee and the IOC Secretary General on behalf of the Korean athletes, and Vice President Jang Jang-ran personally requested a meeting with President Bach.
Later, the IOC Secretary General was informed that Bach wanted to apologize to President Yun in person. Naturally, the call between Bach and President Yun would be followed by an official apology from the IOC, then a meeting between Bach, Vice President Jang Jang-ran, and President Lee Ki-heung, but the call between Bach and President Yun would be the final straw. “Still, I think the fact that the IOC President wanted to apologize to the President after the situation occurred is sincere in itself,” said Vice President Jang Jang-ran.