Olympics: Apology for North Korea for wrong flag blunder

Olympic organisers have apologised to the North Korean athletes whose images were shown next to the South Korean flag. The blunder delayed the women's football match, at Glasgow's Hampden Park on the first day of action at the 2012 Olympics. As the North Korean players were being introduced on the stadium screen before the match against Colombia, South Korean flags were displayed in the video package instead of North Korean flags. The players walked off the pitch and could only be persuaded to return when the teams were announced again, this time with the correct flags. Relations between North and South Korea are tense for more than 50 years since they remain technically at war following the 1950-53 Korean conflict. Speaking after the match, North Korea's coach Sin Ui Gun said: "Our team was not going to participate unless the problem was solved properly. Unfortunately it took some time later for the broadcast to be done again properly and we made the decision to go on with the match." A statement released by London 2012 organisers said: "We will apologise to the team and the National Olympic Committee and steps will be taken to ensure this does not happen again." London 2012 spokesman Andy Mitchell said: "The South Korean flag was shown in the video package on the screen before the kick-off and the North Koreans were naturally very upset about that. A genuine mistake was made for which we apologise." However, North Korea's state news agency KCNA made no mention of the blunder in its report of the team's 2-0 victory over Colombia. North Korea will face South Korea in the first round of the men's Olympic table tennis team.