On the morning of September 19, the Korean Sports and Olympic Committee (KOC) confirmed that it had received an apology from the Organizing Committee of the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games (ASIAD 20) regarding the incident that occurred before the Korean men's ice hockey match against Bangladesh.
The event took place on September 18 at Kakamigahara Green Stadium, Gifu Prefecture (Japan), before the men's hockey group A match. According to the ritual, the national anthems of the two teams were played before the match started.
However, when it came to the ceremonial part of the South Korean team, the DPRK National Anthem was suddenly played on the field. The broadcaster then realized the mistake and apologized.
Not stopping there, the Bangladesh National Anthem continued to be played instead of the Korean National Anthem. Korean players had to wait before the national anthem of this country was played accurately.
Because at that time the two teams had started performing the greeting ceremony according to the referee's instructions, the Korean players could not fully perform the National Anthem ceremony before the match.
After the incident, the Korean delegation requested the Organizing Committee to explain the cause and send an official letter of protest. KOC requested the Organizing Committee to apologize, investigate the incident and propose measures to avoid recurrence.
At about 9 pm on September 18, two officials of the Organizing Committee, including the Director in charge of the participating delegations, directly came to the office of the Korean delegation to apologize.
KOC President Yoo Seung-min said that the wrong pronunciation of the National Anthem is a serious problem at an international sports event. KOC also requested the Organizing Committee to clarify the cause and implement preventive measures.
ASIAD 20 takes place in Aichi and Nagoya from September 19 to October 4. The incident occurred on the very first day of the Games, attracting attention due to its involvement in national protocol at an international sporting event.
