South Korea Mistaken for Republic of China Amid String of Operational Flubs at Japan Asian Games

Participating nations are voicing frustrations over a series of operational blunders at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, including the playing of incorrect national anthems and disruptions in athlete transportation.

According to outlets such as the Yomiuri Shimbun today (September 23), the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee lodged a protest after a major error occurred during the men's hockey match between South Korea and Bangladesh on September 18, where the North Korean anthem was played instead. The organizing committee subsequently issued an official apology.

In another incident on September 20 during the modern pentathlon awards ceremony, South Korea was incorrectly introduced as the "Republic of China" before the mistake was corrected.


Disruptions related to transportation and lodging also continued.

On September 20, ahead of the men's basketball final, the South Korean national team had to cancel its morning practice due to vehicle dispatch issues.


The Chinese delegation was also left stranded at the airport for hours, with two to three transport disruptions occurring daily.

In particular, as this tournament did not build a separate athletes' village and instead utilized large cruise ships and other accommodations scattered across locations, complaints from delegations of various countries poured in regarding delayed check-in procedures and difficulties in lodging assignments.

As the controversy grew, Omi Takaaki, deputy secretary-general of the organizing committee, stated during a press conference, "I apologize for the human errors."

However, he explained, "There is no impact on the games themselves, and we are coming up with improvements every day."

He also clarified that bus dispatch and accommodation delays were partly caused by late-night and urgent requests from various delegations, as well as incomplete documentation.

Local media analyzed that another cause of the poor management was the exclusion of major advertising agencies like Dentsu in the wake of the Tokyo Olympics corruption scandal, which led to the massive deployment of inexperienced personnel.

Regarding this, Omi Takaaki, deputy secretary-general of the organizing committee, said, "While it is possible that human errors occurred due to many inexperienced people, there were no critical mistakes affecting the games, and we are managing to get through it."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.