Asian Games organizers apologize to South Korea over flag ceremony and transport problems

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee said on October 7 that organizers of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan had formally apologized after South Korea’s flag failed to rise fully during the men’s football medal ceremony. The apology matters to the delegation because it follows a series of transport and protocol problems reported during the Games.

According to the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, or KSOC, the organizing committee sent a letter on October 6 under the name of its chief, Hideaki Omura. Yonhap News Agency and SBS News reported the letter’s contents through KSOC; neither published the letter itself in the available accounts.

What happened at the football medal ceremony

The flag incident occurred on October 3 at Toyota Stadium, where South Korea had beaten host Japan 1-0 to win the men’s football gold medal. During the victory ceremony, the South Korean flag did not reach the top of its pole by the end of the national anthem. The letter addressed that failure, according to KSOC.

KSOC said the organizers explained that a knot in the hoisting rope became caught in a pulley and stadium staff had not properly checked the setup before the ceremony. That account is the organizers’ explanation as relayed by the South Korean sports body, rather than an independently published inspection of the flagpole.

Transport and protocol problems during the Games

KSOC also said it received a separate email in which the organizers apologized for inconvenience involving transport and protocol during the competition. The email was distinct from the letter about the flag ceremony, according to Yonhap’s account. The reports do not publish either message in full, so the precise terms of the apologies remain unavailable in the cited reporting.

One disruption affected South Korea’s men’s basketball team on September 20. Its assigned shuttle bus did not arrive, forcing the team to cancel a morning shootaround before its final against Japan. South Korea subsequently won that gold-medal match, Yonhap reported. The missed practice illustrates the scheduling problems behind the delegation’s transport complaints.

Yonhap’s earlier account described further bus problems. South Korea’s football team reached a match against Qatar about 30 minutes later than scheduled after its driver got lost, then had recovery training delayed the following day by another bus mix-up. A transport error also disrupted the men’s volleyball team’s training.

On September 28, a bus assignment error affected both South Korea and Pakistan: a bus assigned to South Korea carried Pakistan’s team, while another reserved for Pakistan picked up South Korean players. Yonhap reported that the mix-up disrupted South Korea’s practice schedule and delayed Pakistan’s preliminary-round match. Organizers had apologized for that incident before the broader apology reported on October 7.

What the apology leaves unresolved

The Games ended on October 4 after a 16-day run involving more than 15,000 athletes and officials, according to Yonhap. Its review of the event described accommodation complaints as well as transport failures, and said China and Vietnam were among other delegations that raised operational concerns. Those broader complaints provide context; they are not all covered by the apology described by KSOC.

KSOC said it would continue working with international sports organizations and offer suggestions aimed at appropriate treatment and better conditions for athletes at future events. SBS reported that the body also planned to review major operational problems. The available reports identify no specific corrective measures or timetable from the Games organizers following the latest apology.