For the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on August 8, the North Korean order of entrance into the stadium has been changed because North Korea expressed discontent with the original order; right next to South Korea.
According to the number of strokes in a country name when using Chinese simplified characters, South Korea was supposed to enter the stadium 177th while North Korea was to be 178th as per the announcement of the Beijing Organizing Committee (BOCOG).
However, the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs and BOCOG announced on the 5th that the order has been changed because North Korea strongly objected to the initial order, especially being next to South Korea.
Consequently, the countries will enter the stadium in the order South Korea, Vietnam, Fiji, Botswana, Portugal and then North Korea.
Chosun Ilbo reported on the 6th that “The possibility of a meeting between South Korean President Lee Myung Bak and North Korean Supreme People’s Committee Chairman Kim Young Nam is low because of North Korea’s objections, although the BOCOG and Chinese officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had anticipated that both sides would meet twice.”
The newspaper explained that “At a luncheon meeting hosted by Chinese President Hu Jintao, the seat of Kim Young Nam was set to be next to the South Korean President’s, but the North rejected that. Therefore, the two leaders will sit apart from each other at the meeting.”
Meanwhile, at the opening ceremony of the Olympics, Kim Young Nam will sit in the front line of the stand and President Lee Myung Bak will sit in a seat to the rear.
