'Terribly sorry': Wrong Korean anthem played at Asian Games hockey
Lined up before the match, the South Korean players looked around in confusion as the anthem rang out at Green Stadium in Gifu, Japan.
The South Korean men's hockey team were left bemused before their Asian Games match against Bangladesh yesterday (18 September) when North Korea's national anthem was played instead of their own.
Lined up before the match, the South Korean players looked around in confusion as the anthem rang out at Green Stadium in Gifu, Japan.
The stadium announcer was quick to apologise for the mistake.
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"We are really sorry, terribly sorry. The national anthem for the Republic of Korea; we played a different song," he said.
"I'm really sorry."
South Korea won the match 5-0.
The North Korean national anthem is banned in South Korea along with other symbols of their wartime foes.
The 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, meaning the North and South are still technically at war.
The Asian Games organising committee did not provide immediate comment on the anthem mix-up.
South Korea has complained of a number of organisational problems at the Games, with basketball players unhappy with the size of their rooms and disrupting preparations for the men's soccer team, the defending champions.
