Korean Unification Flag Explained

See also: Flags of Korea.

Korean Unification
Proportion:2:3
Design:A white background with the Korean Peninsula on it in blue
Skhangul:통일기, 한반도기
Skhanja:統一旗, 韓半島旗
Skrr:Tong(-)ilgi or Hanbandogi
Skmr:T'ong'ilgi or Hanbandogi
Nkhangul:통일기, 조선반도기
Nkhanja:統一旗, 朝鮮半島旗
Nkrr:Tong(-)ilgi or Joseonbandogi
Nkmr:T'ong'ilgi or Chosŏnbandogi

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.

History

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]

Design

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 somewhat smoothed representation 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. The agreement creating the flag explicitly excluded Maando, Marado, and Dokdo/Liancourt Rocks (the Koreas' westernmost, southernmost, and easternmost islands).[3]

Variations

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]

Usage

Sport

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 contexts

Other occasions on which the flag were used include the following:

Symbolism

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.[23]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 한반도기, 화합과 평화의 상징 맞나? . Is the Korean Peninsula flag the harmony and the symbol of peace? . 23 January 2018 . BBC . 1 February 2018 . 9 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180709031421/https://www.bbc.com/korean/news-42742358 . live .
  2. News: Jo. Hailey. A history of the unified flag the two Koreas will march under at the Winter Olympics. 25 January 2018. Quartz. 19 January 2018. 25 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180125193631/https://qz.com/1182652/what-is-the-unified-korean-flag-north-and-south-korea-will-march-under-at-the-winter-olympics/. live.
  3. Web site: 아시안게임서 독도 들어간 한반도기 사용 어려울 듯 . Asian Games will not be able to use Korean Peninsula with Dokdo . 7 August 2018 . 21 August 2018 . 21 August 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180821191923/http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/bulletin/2018/08/07/0200000000AKR20180807136900007.HTML . live .
  4. Web site: Olympic Korean Peninsula Declaration . 20 January 2018 . International Olympic Committee . 2018-02-01 . 2018-02-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180210062528/https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/News/2018/2018-01-20-Declaration.pdf . live .
  5. Web site: Annex B: Korean Unification Flag . 20 January 2018 . International Olympic Committee . 2018-02-01 . 2018-01-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180120210946/https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/News/2018/2018-01-20-Annex-B.pdf . live .
  6. Web site: [올림픽] IOC, 관중의 한반도기 사용은 사례에 따라 달라]. Daum News.
  7. News: Two Koreas' 'one flag' emblematic of once better ties. Reuters. January 18, 2018. www.reuters.com.
  8. Web site: John Gittings . Two Koreas will march as one into Olympic stadium. TheGuardian.com. 11 September 2000.
  9. Web site: 2015 SU Update: Both Koreas Marching Together Again after 2003 SU? . FISU.net . 17 June 2016 . 12 May 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210512180250/https://www.fisu.net/news/summer-fisu-world-university-games/2015-su-update-both-koreas-marching-together-again-after-2003-su . live .
  10. Web site: [뉴스+] 기준 없어 지도·색상 '제각각'…평창 한반도기는 어떨까. https://web.archive.org/web/20180119170642/http://www.segye.com/newsView/20180117006291. 2018-01-19. 17 January 2018.
  11. Web site: North Korea and South Korea's athletes enter the field holding hands and waving an unification flag during the opening ceremony of the 4th East Asian Games in Macau October 29, 2005. The regional sporting event, which hosts nine countries and regions, will be held from October 29 through November 6. REUTERS/Paul Yeung Stock Photo – Alamy. Alamy. Limited. www.alamy.com.
  12. Web site: Korean Unification Flag. Alex. Crouch. June 22, 2015.
  13. Web site: Asian Winter Games 2007 Changchun. www.youtube.com.
  14. Web site: 【开幕式】2007长春亚冬会开幕式_哔哩哔哩_bilibili. www.bilibili.com.
  15. Web site: As one, Korea unified, the power of table tennis – International Table Tennis Federation . International Table Tennis Federation . 18 June 2018 . 3 May 2018.
  16. Web site: Unified Korean mixed doubles team cruises at int'l table tennis event . . 28 August 2018 . en . 18 July 2018.
  17. Web site: Indonesia 2018: North and South Korea to march together. 2018-09-22. 2018-09-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20180922101849/https://www.paralympic.org/news/indonesia-2018-north-and-south-korea-march-together. live.
  18. Web site: Unified Korea to play at GER/DEN 2019. 2018-10-02. IHF. 2018-10-03. 2020-09-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20200919225420/https://archive.ihf.info/en-us/mediacentre/news/newsdetails.aspx?ID=6127. live.
  19. Book: Routledge Handbook of Sport and Politics. 10.4324/9781315761930. 2016. Routledge Handbooks Online. 9781315761930. Bairner. Alan. John. Kelly. Jung Woo. Lee.
  20. Book: Post-Beijing 2008: Geopolitics, Sport and the Pacific Rim. J. A.. Mangan. Fan. Hong. 18 October 2013. Routledge. 9781317966081. 18 January 2018. Google Books. 12 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210512180344/https://books.google.com/books?id=cayMAQAAQBAJ&q=unified+korea+opening+ceremony+beijing&pg=PA145. live.
  21. News: 'Flag dispute' halts joint Korean march. 2018-03-08. BBC News. 2018-03-10. en-GB. 2018-03-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20180310002124/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43327934. live.
  22. News: South Korea pastor arrested on return from North visit. 20 August 2010. BBC. 13 August 2014. 13 August 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140813185243/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11034498. live.
  23. Web site: On the February 8 Parade and the Olympics. Brian Reynolds. 9 February 2018. Brian Reynolds Myers. Myers. 7 February 2018. Sthele Press. By forbearing to march behind the yin-yang flag at the opening ceremony of the Olympics, the South Korean athletes are making a bigger sacrifice than the North Koreans... [T]he peninsula flag means two very different things to the two Koreas. In the South it symbolizes a desire for peaceful co-existence, or at most for a unification of equal partners in the reassuringly remote future. In wall posters above the DMZ it has always symbolized the southern masses’ yearning for “autonomous unification,” meaning absorption by the North. It’s worrying to think how inner-track propaganda is certain to misrepresent the South Koreans’ eschewal of their state flag for this of all symbols — and at this of all events.. 24 January 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190124123031/http://sthelepress.com/index.php/2018/02/07/on-the-february-8-parade-and-the-olympics-b-r-myers. live.

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