Incheon City Removes National Flag Banner in Two Days Over 'Upside-Down Taegeukgi' Controversy

Incheon City has removed a commemorative Liberation Day banner just two days after installation, following a controversy over whether the South Korean national flag, the Taegeukgi, was depicted upside down.

On the 6th, Incheon City installed banners commemorating Liberation Day near the pedestrian crossing at the rear gate of City Hall.

The banner depicts an independence activist running forward while holding Taegeukgi flags in both hands.

However, successive criticisms emerged pointing out that the Tae-geuk pattern on the flag within the banner—as seen here—was reversed, with blue on top and red on the bottom.

Incheon City explained that the graphic was designed to represent the perspective of looking up from below at someone waving the flag, and maintained that the flag was not drawn incorrectly.

The city took the stance that the basic layout of the flag, including the positions of the four trigrams (geon, gon, gam, ri), was normal.

Nevertheless, judging that misunderstandings could spread, the city removed the banner on the morning of the 8th.

Incheon City plans to reinstall a revised banner before the 15th of this month, which marks the 81st anniversary of Liberation Day.

(Photo source: Incheon City)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.