Korean flag fails to rise during anthem after football team beats Japan to win gold

South Korea’s national flag stalled on its pole during the national anthem at the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 men’s football medal ceremony on Saturday, leaving Japan’s flag flying highest after South Korea beat the host 1-0 for gold.

The win at Toyota Stadium in Aichi Prefecture gave South Korea its fourth consecutive title in the sport and its third straight win over Japan in the final round.

The South Korean players stood with gold medals around their necks as the anthem began, but the South Korean flag on the center pole failed to rise on cue. Officials in charge of raising the flag scrambled to fix the problem while players pointed to the flagpole, unable to hide their confusion.

The South Korean flag was supposed to fly above those of silver medalist Japan and bronze medalist China. Instead, the latter two rose normally, which briefly left Japan’s at the top, and boos erupted from the stands. The South Korean flag reached the highest point only after the anthem ended.

It has not been confirmed whether the cause was an equipment malfunction or human error.

“If it was intentional, that’s really not good,” Lee Gi-hyuk, the captain of Gangwon FC, said about the incident.

“I think that a medal ceremony is meant to be a celebration,” he continued. “We worked so hard, so it’s disappointing that they couldn’t even raise one flag properly. I imagine that the players, as well as the fans who came all the way here to cheer for us, were unhappy.”

Forward Lee Young-jun of Grasshopper Club Zurich was more measured in his response.

“Maybe [Japan] did it on purpose. Maybe they wanted to be on top at least in that way, but if I say that, it might spark another controversy about my character,” he said. “We won the gold medal and achieved our goal, so we’re trying not to pay too much attention to that kind of thing. That’s that. We were at the top of the podium with the gold medal, so it’s fine.”

The ceremony was the latest in a series of mishaps for South Korean athletes at the Games. On the day of the team’s first group-stage match, its bus went to the wrong location, and the players arrived at the stadium 30 minutes late. Ahead of the final, the team was told its official training session had been canceled because of poor pitch conditions. At the country’s field hockey match, North Korea’s national anthem was played instead of South Korea’s.

BY PARK LIN [[email protected]]