The bad press for Korean President Lee Myung-bak continues:
President Lee Myung-bak fiercely waved the national flag to cheer up the Korean women’s handball squad during a match with Russia in Beijing. But something was wrong with the flag in his hand: It was upside-down.
Internet users were quick to catch the mistake and posted jeering comments as the pictures circulated online. Among the comments were: “It’s a shame of Korea to the world.” “An upside-down flag means humiliation and insult. It’s only seen when a country is defeated in battle.”
Yonhap removed the pictures from its Web site and asked other portals not to use the pictures. However, the pictures immediately spread to online users’ blogs and Internet cafes.
Cheong Wa Dae said that Korea’s cheering squad in Beijing gave him the flag.
The main opposition Democratic Party commented that Korean Olympic players are doing very well even though President Lee supported them with an upside-down flag. [Korea Times]
Like I said before, Lee should have went to the swimming competition.
Popularity: 2%
:mrgreen:...
11:32 am on August 11th, 2008 1
Whoever the aide who got those flags for Lee is now applying for the Chinese enuchs society at the forbidden city — carrying his balls in a bottle.
11:34 am on August 11th, 2008 2
On second thought, the flag in the rear is correct and probably came from the same batch. Could that photo be photo-shopped?
11:45 am on August 11th, 2008 3
If you watched the opening ceremony there were several Chinese flags, to include the one carried by the young boy who had survived the earthquake, that were upside down.
11:45 am on August 11th, 2008 4
To be fair I saw a lot of upside-down flags both in the opening ceremony and at the various events. Even that little kid marching alongside Yao Ming had an upside-down Chinese flag.
4:04 pm on August 11th, 2008 5
7:56 pm on August 11th, 2008 6
To be fair I saw a lot of upside-down flags both in the opening ceremony and at the various events. Even that little kid marching alongside Yao Ming had an upside-down Chinese flag.
Comparing the action of a Chinese child and the leader of THE GREAT KOREAN PEOPLE, seems hardly fair. 2CM has handlers right? He has protocol people. They must all be incompetent.
Needless to say, I am waiting, just waiting for the Koreans to flip out when they lose some event. A threatened walk out is normal for Koreans when they don’t get their way.
11:57 pm on August 11th, 2008 7
Just for the record, an upside down national flag doesn’t mean defeat for all countries. For example, in the Philippines, when the flag is flown from a flagpole, the blue stripe is on top in times of peace, and the red stripe is on top in times of war.
3:32 am on August 12th, 2008 8
11:20 pm on August 12th, 2008 9
4:18 am on August 13th, 2008 10
2008 Olympic Results…
The 2008 Olympic games from Beijing and started and I couldn\’t be happier. I am a huge fan of the olympics and will be watching as many olympic events as I can….