Asian Games offer 'deepest apologies' for South Korea anthem blunder
The Asian Games organisers played the North Korean national anthem as South Korea’s hockey team lined up to face Bangladesh.
South Korean men's field hockey players react as the North Korean national anthem is played ahead of their game against Bangladesh at the Asian Games in Kakamigahara city, Gifu prefecture, Japan, on Sep 18, 2026, in this video screengrab. (Image: SNTV via AP/OCA)
NAGOYA: Asian Games organisers offered "deepest apologies" on Saturday (Sep 19) for playing the North Korean national anthem for the South Korean men's hockey team.
South Korean officials were left angered by the latest mishap to hit the Nagoya-Aichi Games, which officially opened after a troubled build-up.
At their Friday contest against Bangladesh, South Korea's players lined up for the traditional playing of the anthems, only to look bemused as North Korea's song rang out.
Organisers then played Bangladesh's anthem and later the South Korean one, the South's Yonhap news agency said. South Korea went on to win 5-0.
"During the men's hockey match between (South) Korea and Bangladesh on Sep 18, an incorrect national anthem was mistakenly played before the match," the Asian Games organising committee told AFP on Saturday.
The statement said that, on Friday, "officials responsible for (National Olympic Committee) relations visited the delegation of the Republic of Korea and offered their sincere apologies for the incident".
"We will also work to prevent a recurrence and would like to express our deepest apologies to all those affected by this matter."
A stadium announcer apologised for the blunder but Min Tae-seok, coach of South Korea, was unimpressed.
"This is a really serious problem. When we protested, they said, 'We're sorry. It wasn't that it wasn't prepared, there was a mistake on the part of those responsible for playing it'," he said.
"But this is something that simply should never happen."
The build-up to the Games has been overshadowed by complaints from teams about the quality and amount of accommodation.
Some teams were also stranded at the airport for up to six hours when they landed this week.
