.svg) | |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
|---|---|
| Adopted | 1991 |
| Design | A white background with the Korean Peninsula on it in blue |
| Korean Unification Flag | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Korean name | |||||||
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 통일기, 조선반도기 | ||||||
| Hancha | 統一旗, 朝鮮半島旗 | ||||||
| |||||||
| South Korean name | |||||||
| Hangul | 통일기, 한반도기 | ||||||
| Hanja | 統一旗, 韓半島旗 | ||||||
| |||||||
The Korean Unification Flag is a flag designed to represent all of Korea when North and South Korea participate as one team in various sporting events.
North and South Korea initially planned to compete as one team at the 1990 Asian Games, and conceived the Korean Unification Flag amid logistical difficulties with raising two flags at once.[1] While the unified team effort was not realized, the flag was prominently displayed by an unofficial cheerleading group during the Games.
The flag was first officially used in 1991 when the two countries competed together as a single team in the 41st World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba, Japan.[2]
The background colour is white. In the center is a sky blue[1] silhouette of the Korean Peninsula, including Jeju Island to the southwest. The silhouette is a slightly smoothed version of the actual coastline and northern border; according to both Koreas, the shape of the peninsula is "symbolic" and several smaller islands such as Geojedo are visibly omitted.[1] The agreement creating the flag explicitly excluded Maando, Marado, and Dokdo/Liancourt Rocks (the Koreas' westernmost, southernmost, and easternmost islands).[3]
Ulleungdo was added to the flag in 2002, and the disputed Liancourt Rocks were added in 2003.
Around September 2006, Socotra Rock was also added to the flag after an EEZ dispute flare-up with China. It is unconfirmed whether it was present at any future official or unofficial usages of the flag.[1][2]
Ulleungdo and the Liancourt Rocks were removed in an official capacity at the 2018 Winter Olympics[4][5] and other events in 2018, following alleged pressure from the IOC and Japan. The IOC has told South Korea that including the Liancourt Rocks officially would be seen as "a political act" and violate the IOC's neutrality, to which South Korea agreed.[1] Japan allegedly pressured South Korea to officially remove Ulleungdo as well, citing the "Chiba precedent" (where the flag's first official use, in Chiba, did not include it).[3] Ulleungdo was added back in 2019.
According to South Korean government policy, it allows use of the Liancourt Rocks variation during private events or by people in an unofficial capacity, including cheerleaders. For example, in the 2018 Winter Olympics, the variation was used on the women's ice hockey team's training uniforms, by the North Korean cheerleading groups during the opening ceremony, and during the team's evaluation match five days prior to the opening ceremony (which was hosted by the Korea Ice Hockey Association and not officially part of the Olympic schedule). Japan has protested these uses. Additionally, it appeared on the team's official (non-training) uniforms four days before the opening ceremony; BBC reported that it was quickly removed following media attention,[1] while Yonhap News Agency reported that it was not removed until just before opening ceremony entry.[6]
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The Korean Unification Flag has been officially used at several international events, either for a unified team, or when the two teams march together in the opening ceremony while competing separately.
At the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing and the 2005 Asian Athletics Championships in Incheon, South Korea, unofficial cheerleading groups also prominently displayed the flag.[10]
In addition to international events, inter-Korean sporting events have used the Unification Flag.[19]
The flag was not used in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Not only was a unified team shelved, but the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG)'s plan to make the two Korean teams enter consecutively during the opening ceremony was rejected due to opposition by the North Korean delegation at the last moment.[20]
During the 2018 Winter Paralympics, negotiations were stalled by North Korean officials requesting that the Liancourt Rocks be included on the flag.[21]
Other occasions on which the flag were used include the following:
According to American scholar and Korea expert Brian Reynolds Myers, South and North Koreans view the flag in different contexts. South Koreans see the flag as representing a peaceful relationship and coexistence with North Korea, whereas North Koreans view its usage by South Koreans as representing a desire to have their country annexed into North Korea. In this sense, Myers says, South Korean usage of the flag is more detrimental to their country's status as to North Korea than North Koreans' usage of it in regards to South Korea.[28]
