Upside-Down Patterns and Five-Bar Trigrams: Asking About 'Messed-Up South Korean Flags'

[Anchor]

Lately, clothes and accessories featuring incorrectly drawn South Korean flags have been widely distributed in the country. They are reportedly misproduced in China.

Reporter Cho Min-ki has the details.

[Reporter]

Incorrectly rendered South Korean flags can easily be found in everyday life these days.

Some examples include the Taegeuk pattern being flipped upside down or all four trigrams drawn with five bars each.

The South Korean flag consists of a red-and-blue Taegeuk pattern in the center, with the four trigrams known as geon, gon, gam, and ri arranged in that specific bar count clockwise starting from the upper left.

We visited a shop selling these flawed flag accessories.

When asked why such incorrect products were displayed right at the front of the shelf, the merchant replied that it was because they were made in China.

[Taegeuk flag accessory vendor: (The shape is different from the regular South Korean flag.) The kids in China made it wrong. We didn't make it wrong. Besides, it's hard to notice. You seem to be too sensitive.]

Naturally, criticism arises that even products made overseas should undergo proper verification.

[Lee Eun-sil / Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province: Many foreigners come to see them, and it is quite regrettable that such items are put out as souvenirs.]

[Kim Su-hong / Dalseong County, Daegu: Since our South Korean flag is a symbolic object, I think there is a feeling and desire for people to understand it correctly.]

The problem is that not only physical markets but also major domestic online shopping malls are openly selling items like T-shirts that distort the shape and arrangement of the Taegeuk pattern and the four trigrams.

In addition to Chinese e-commerce platforms like AliExpress, a major foreign brand sparked controversy last month by releasing a product with an incorrect South Korean flag design.

[Park Mi-kyung / Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province: First of all, even our own people need to properly know what the South Korean flag looks like.]

[Seo Kyoung-duk / Professor, Department of Creative Convergence, Sungshin Women's University: Selling erroneous products related to the South Korean flag is quite embarrassing and a very bad situation that tarnishes the country's image.]

While the current Framework Act on the National Flag of the Republic of Korea mandates standards for the production, hoisting, management, and maintenance of the dignity of the national flag, it lacks separate penalty provisions, leaving no legal grounds to sanction the distribution and sale of incorrect flags.

Voices are growing louder that products related to South Korea's national symbols must be subject to strict inspections throughout domestic manufacturing and distribution processes.

(Video reporting: Kang Si-woo | Video editing: Cho Mu-hwan | Design: Kang Yun-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.