Korean Unification Flag
( 통일기 or 한반도기 )

 

The Unification Flag is a flag designed to represent all of Korea when North and South Korea participate as one team in sporting events. The flag represents a united Korea (both North and South). The background is white. In the center there is a blue silhouette of the Korean peninsula, including the island of Jeju-do to the southwest and Liancourt Rocks to the east, added in 2006. The flag has no status as an official flag in either country.

Use in Field of Sport

The flag was first used in 1991 when the two countries competed as a single team in the 41st World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba, Japan and the 8th World Youth Football Championship in Lisbon, Portugal. The two countries' teams marched together under the flag in the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia; the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece; the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy; and the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar; however, the two countries competed separately in sporting events. The flag was not used in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China due to the decision made by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), that the two teams would enter separately. The two countries also marched separately at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. North Korea did not participate in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Use in other Contexts

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

• The flag was prominently displayed at the border between the two sides when the ROK president, Roh Moo-hyun, walked into the DPRK on an official visit in 2007.
• A large group of DPRK citizens and officials waved the flag when saying goodbye to Mr. Ro Su Hui, vice-chairman of the Reunification of the Fatherland Union(Pomminryon). This was on the occasion of his return to the ROK from the DPRK by crossing the DMZ line. Media reports referred to the flag as the “Korea is one” flag.  He was immediately arrested upon his return to the ROK and later jailed.

Korea ( 한국 ) called Hanguk in South Korea and Chosŏn in North Korea, is an East Asian territory that is divided into two distinct sovereign states, North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by China to the northwest and Russia to the northeast. It is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan (East Sea). For more information View Korea ( 한국 ) »