North Korean anthem played at South Korean Asian Games hockey match
Earlier-generation briefing · Verification upgrade pending
What happened
The North Korean national anthem was played instead of the South Korean anthem before a men's field hockey match between South Korea and Bangladesh at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.
The incident occurred on a Friday and left the South Korean players feeling perplexed.
Asian Games organizers issued an apology for the error.
Why it matters
The mistake caused confusion among the South Korean athletes during a high-profile international sporting event.
Context
Nagoya, the capital of Aichi Prefecture, is set to host the 2026 Asian Games from September 19 to October 4, 2026.
Sources 4 sources
This briefing cites 2 publishers across 2 detected independent reporting streams. Some cited articles appear to be syndicated or near-duplicate coverage, so they are not counted as separate corroboration.
- Alton Telegraph They're not playing our song! North Korean anthem played at South Korean field hockey match Detected as syndicated or near-duplicate coverage.
- Ndtv Asian Games Forced To Apologise After Anthem Blunder In South Korea Match
- Wikipedia Asian Games Background reference · Wikipedia text used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Wikipedia Nagoya Background reference · Wikipedia text used under CC BY-SA 4.0.