During the men's hockey Group A preliminary match against Bangladesh at the Asian Games this morning (September 18).
Prior to the start of the match, the stadium announcer introduced the playing of the South Korean national anthem.
[Stadium Announcer : First, the national anthem of the Republic of Korea.]
However, what actually played was the prelude to a different song, not the South Korean national anthem.
The South Korean players looked around in bewilderment and began murmuring, but the song continued all the way to the end without stopping.
After the song ended, an eerie silence filled the stadium for nearly two minutes, followed by an apology from the announcer for playing the wrong song.
[Stadium Announcer : We are deeply sorry. We played the national anthem of another country instead of the national anthem of the Republic of Korea.]
However, upon verification, it was confirmed that the song played by the organizing committee was none other than the North Korean national anthem.
An absurd mishap occurred where North Korea and South Korea were confused.
The national team players were able to hear their national anthem only belatedly after the greetings between both teams concluded.
South Korea secured a 5-0 landslide victory against Bangladesh in the match.
Diplomatic discourtesies by the Japanese side toward the South Korean delegation have been repeated throughout the tournament.
Yesterday, local police blocked the main body of the South Korean athletic delegation, who arrived in Nagoya, from entering while holding the Taegeukgi (South Korean national flag).
The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee stated, "Our officials stepped in and protested strongly, but the local police refused to back down, and in the end, we were unable to hold the Taegeukgi," adding, "We did not receive a clear reason for the obstruction."
At a cruise athletes' village event the day before yesterday, an actor dressed up as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the mastermind behind the Japanese invasions of Korea, appeared, and on the official social media account of the organizing committee that same night, Toyotomi appeared once again, causing a controversy.
Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Kim Min-ji | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
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