North Korean Anthem Played Instead of South Korea's... 'Chaotic' Tournament Operations

[Anchor]

Even yesterday, just one day before the opening ceremony of the Asian Games, Japan's tournament organization remained in complete disarray. From the North Korean national anthem being played instead of South Korea's at a hockey match, to a cascade of problems ranging from immigration procedures to meals and lodging.

Reporter Yu Byeongmin has the story from the local scene.

[Reporter]

Our men's hockey players prepare for the national salute ahead of their opening match.

[Playing the national anthem of South Korea.]

Suddenly, however, the North Korean national anthem echoes instead of the South Korean anthem, leaving the flustered players not knowing what to do.

After the Bangladesh national anthem finished, the players waited for the South Korean anthem, but when it did not play, players from both teams started high-fiving each other—only for the South Korean anthem to begin at that exact moment.

Despite experiencing such an absurd incident, our players maintained their composure and secured a victory in their opening match.

Just like this, with the opening day only a day away, the operation of the event remains an absolute mess.

Our teqball players, staying in a cramped business hotel, only receive breakfast at the hotel and must use the stadium cafeteria for lunch, but they are suffering due to extremely inadequate meals.

[Kim Eun-jun / National Teqball Athlete: Lunch is completely unreasonable; it is far too lacking in nutrients and fails to fill our stomachs.]

Thai athletes grew so exhausted waiting for their Asian Games AD card registration upon entry that they boiled instant noodles they had brought with them and slept on the floor. Meanwhile, Indian athletes arrived at their cruise ship lodging 10 hours after landing at Nagoya Airport, only to be shocked to find that their room had been doubly assigned to other athletes.

[Varun Sanyal / Indian Mixed Martial Arts National Athlete: I saw two guys standing in my room. The organizing committee assigned this room to me through the system, but this room originally belonged to those guys. It's just a total disaster.]

Complaints are exploding everywhere, but the Organizing Committee dismissed the athletes' grievances as fake news, claiming the tournament is running smoothly.

[Tayyab Ikram / Asian Games Coordination Committee Chair: Rooms have been provided to all athletes, and they are staying comfortably. I won't name names, but there is a lot of false information on social media.]

With tournament operations remaining chaotic, major confusion is expected to continue even after today's opening.

(Photo courtesy of Social Media (SNS))

Reported by Park Jinho and Yang Hyeoncheol | Video by Kim Jinwon | Graphics by Cho Suin | Video Source: Social Media (SNS)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.