THE North Korea women's football team has walked off the pitch before a London Olympics group stage match because they were mistakenly represented under the South Korean flag.
With less than 48 hours before the London Games opening ceremony, Olympic officials were forced to issue an instant apology to the North Korean team after they refused to take the pitch at Scotland's Hampden Park.
The squad became incensed when the stadium's big screen video graphics showed a South Korean flag next to the names of its players.
North Korea was set to face Colombia before the pre-game formalities produced the biggest gaffe of the Games before its official opening.
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The match was set to kick off 65 minutes later than planned.
Officials from the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games apologised to North Korean officials.
''Today ahead of the women's football match at Hampden Park, the South Korean flag was shown on a big screen instead of flag North Korea," stated a LOCOG official.
"Clearly that is a mistake. We will apologise to the team and the national Olympic committee and steps will be taken to ensure no repeat."
The flag flap did not hurt the North Koreans on the pitch, who rallied to score 2-0 win over Colombia.
They pressed from the start and had several chances before going ahead in the 39th minute.
A long ball into the area bounced off several Colombia defenders before ricocheting off the shin of Kim Song Hui into the net. She then added a second in the 86th from a rebound.
The Colombians had a few chances to equalise before that, with Maria Usme's free kick over the bar their best chance.
