[Olympic Rings. Photo Credit to Pxhere]

South Korean athletes were mistakenly introduced as North Korea at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

The ceremony took place on July 26th in Paris, where athletes from each country paraded down the River Seine on boats.

This year, rather than walking into the arena, athletes rode boats of all shapes and sizes, with some nations even sharing the same vessel.

While the River Seine is known to be extremely dirty, organizers spent more than $1 billion to clean the water.

The opening ceremony involved countless celebrities, such as Lady Gaga and Snoop Dogg.

It was, however, a controversial one, as it involved several moments that caused frowns among the audience.

One moment that stirred controversy was when DJ and producer Barbara Butch, an LGBTQ+ icon, seemed to recreate Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper,” with background artists and dancers.

Many were offended and perceived it as a mockery of a sacred Christian story.

There was also a moment when the Olympic five-ring flag was displayed upside down.

While the ceremony itself was controversial and sparked debates globally, one of its biggest issues was the misrepresentation of South Korean athletes.

As the excited South Korean team floated down the river, both French and English announcers introduced them as the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea," which is the official name of North Korea.

South Korea’s official name is the “Republic of Korea.”

The same name was then used again, this time correctly, when North Korea’s delegation sailed past.

The misrepresentation of the athletes has caused outrage, and the South Korean sports ministry has demanded assurances from organizers that this blunder will not recur.

In a statement, the ministry expressed "regret over the announcement... where the South Korean delegation was introduced as the North Korean team."

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) quickly responded, “We deeply apologize for the mistake that occurred when introducing the Korean team during the opening ceremony broadcast.”

Jang Mi-ran, South Korea's vice minister for sports and culture, also stated that IOC President Thomas Bach intended to contact South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to convey an apology.

President Yoon’s office later revealed that Bach had reached out to apologize.

Yoon expressed to Bach that the South Korean people were "very shocked and embarrassed" by the incident and requested that he issue an apology through both media and social media.

Furthermore, he insisted Bach take measures to prevent similar mistakes in the future.

According to Yoon's office, Bach assured Yoon that he would take all possible steps to ensure it does not happen again.

However, this was not the first occurrence of misrepresentation of South Korea in the Olympics.

In 2012, a South Korean flag was displayed alongside North Korea’s women’s team in a soccer tournament.

This issue generated even more outrage, as it was entirely preventable and should never have occurred.

The organizers' negligence and ignorance, coupled with the recurrence of similar issues in the past, sparked global outrage.

Mark Adams, spokesperson for the IOC, stated, “An operational mistake was made. We can only apologize in an evening of so many moving parts that that mistake was made. And we apologize to people from the Republic of Korea for that. Sorry for that error.”

South Korea has 143 athletes competing in 21 events, while North Korea, competing in the Olympics for the first time since 2016, has 16 athletes.