North Korean anthem played for South Korea at Asian Games, sparks controversy

Nagoya: A major blunder occurred at the hockey competition venue of the 2026 Asian Games when North Korea's national anthem was played instead of South Korea's ahead of the men's hockey match between South Korea and Bangladesh.

The incident occurred on Friday at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium, around 30 km from Nagoya.

South Korean players were left stunned when they heard the wrong national anthem. Organisers, who realised the mistake, later corrected it and played South Korea's national anthem after Bangladesh's. The Korean Sport and Olympic Committee formally lodged a complaint with the organisers. The committee called for measures to prevent such mistakes from being repeated and demanded an official apology from the organisers, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. The report also said the referee asked the players to shake hands and prepare for the match before the national anthem had finished.

Despite the national anthem controversy, South Korea secured a convincing victory in the match. They defeated Bangladesh 5-0, with Sim Jae-won, Lee Kang-san, Oh Se-yeong, Bae Seung-min and Yang Ji-hoon scoring for South Korea.

It is unbelievable that such a mistake occurred at an international event, South Korean coach Min Tae-seok said. He added that his team approached Bangladesh cautiously, with the strategy of focusing on defence in the first quarter before becoming more attacking in the second quarter.

Pool A of the men's hockey competition features South Korea, Bangladesh, defending champions India, hosts Japan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Meanwhile, in their opening Pool A match in the women's competition, South Korea made a strong start by defeating Chinese Taipei 3-1.