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Asian Games organisers apologised after the North Korean national anthem was played instead of South Korea’s before the men’s field hockey match against Bangladesh at the 2026 edition on Friday according to reports from Reuters and ESPN. South Korean players stood lined up at Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium with some placing hands over their hearts while others appeared bewildered as the wrong music played Yonhap news agency reported. The incident occurred at Kakamigahara in Gifu Prefecture ahead of the official opening ceremony scheduled for Saturday.
A stadium announcer quickly intervened stating we are really sorry terribly sorry national anthem for the Republic of Korea we played a different song I’m really sorry as carried by Reuters. Organisers then played Bangladesh’s national anthem followed by South Korea’s though the timing forced the teams to begin handshakes while the correct anthem was still playing according to the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee. The committee said it lodged a formal complaint demanding an official apology and measures to prevent recurrence adding that it had collected video evidence.
South Korea coach Min Tae-seok expressed frustration over the error telling reporters this is a really serious problem when we protested they said we’re sorry it wasn’t that it wasn’t prepared there was a mistake on the part of those responsible for playing it but this is something that simply should never happen. The coach’s comments were reported across outlets including the BBC and Korea JoongAng Daily. An official from South Korea’s Olympic body told AFP they were investigating the exact circumstances.
Despite the pre-match disruption South Korea defeated Bangladesh 5-0 in the Group A encounter with goals from Sim Jae-won Lee Gang-san Oh Se-yong Bae Soung-min and Yang Ji-hun according to Yonhap news agency. The team which won bronze at the previous Asian Games approached the fixture seriously the coach noted in post-match remarks reported by Prokerala. Min Tae-seok said his side focused on defensive structure initially before becoming more aggressive.
The anthem mix-up adds to a series of organisational complaints at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games where accommodation issues have dominated the build-up. South Korean basketball players highlighted leaking pipes in their rooms according to The Japan Times while Chinese gymnast Zhang Boheng said he waited six hours after landing leaving him totally exhausted a video shared on social media showed The Straits Times reported. Organising committee chairperson Tayaab Ikram stated that genuine complaints had been addressed and brought down to zero while defending the container accommodation as well arranged and a potential future trend for events.
Field hockey competitions began on Friday ahead of the official start to manage the schedule for more than 11000 athletes exceeding the number at a Summer Olympics ESPN reported. The North Korean anthem remains banned in South Korea due to the ongoing technical state of war since the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty Reuters noted. The Korean Sport and Olympic Committee continues to seek clarification from the organising committee on how the error occurred.
