Deleted in 36 minutes in response to Ministry of Foreign Affairs protest and request for correction
UAE: “It was a simple mistake, it had no effect on the strong relationship between the two countries.”
The Korean government officially protested against displaying the North Korean flag (the People’s Republic flag) instead of the Taegeukgi while introducing Korea on the website of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (COP28).
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), the chair country, acknowledged that it was a ‘ridiculous mistake’ and apologized.
In a notice text message sent to reporters on the 6th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “As soon as we became aware of the problem, we immediately made an official complaint to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the chair country, and the COP28 Chairman’s Office and requested immediate corrective action.”
The Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the world’s largest international conference held every year to discuss specific implementation measures to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. This year, it was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and a total of 40,000 people from over 200 countries are participating.
On the COP28 website operated by the UAE, the names and flags of 38 countries participating in the ‘Declaration of Mutual Recognition of Hydrogen Certification System’ led by the chair country were posted.
However, the North Korean national flag, not the Taegeukgi, was displayed as the flag of South Korea, which joined the declaration. Although North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) is one of the 198 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, it did not join the declaration.
In response to our government’s protest, the UAE removed its flag in 36 minutes and left only a list of countries.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “In the section introducing the participating countries in the declaration, the North Korean national flag was mistakenly placed instead of the Korean flag as the Korean flag, and the current chair country has deleted all the flags of the participating countries.”
He added, “The chairman’s office said, ‘This error is unacceptable,’ and decided to investigate the circumstances surrounding it and inform us.”
The COP28 Chairman’s Office explained to the Korean government that it was a ‘simple mistake that occurred while junior staff was continuously updating the countries participating in the Presidency Initiative’ and apologized.
A senior figure in the COP28 chairman’s office said, “We acknowledge that this is a ridiculous mistake that should never have happened. Because I was working under excessive workload and limited time, I was unable to take care of everything carefully. “We took action immediately after receiving Korea’s protest, so we ask for your generous understanding.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that COP28 Chairman Sultan Ahmed Aljaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, also expressed deep regret and officially apologized.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.