Korean Unification Flag

{{Short description|Flag representing all of Korea}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}

{{Infobox flag

| Name = Korea

| Nickname = Unification Flag

| Image = Unification flag of Korea.svg

| Use = 000000

| Symbol = {{FIAV|000000}} {{FIAV|normal}} {{FIAV|Mirror}}

| Proportion = 2:3

| Adoption = {{start date and age|1991}}

| Design = A white field charged in the center with a sky blue silhouette of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and Ulleungdo

| Designer =

| Type =

}}

{{Infobox Chinese

| skhangul = 통일기 / 한반도기

| skhanja = 統一旗 / 韓半島旗

| skrr = Tongilgi / Hanbandogi

| skmr = T'ongilgi / Hanbandogi

| nkhangul = 통일기 / 조선반도기

| nkhanja = 統一旗 / 朝鮮半島旗

| nkrr = Tongilgi / Joseonbandogi

| nkmr = T'ongilgi / Chosŏnbandogi

}}

The Korean Unification Flag ({{Korean|hangul=통일기|lit=Unification Flag}}), also known as the Flag of the Korean Peninsula ({{Korean|hangul=조선반도기|links=no}} or {{lang|ko|한반도기}}), is a flag used to represent all of Korea. When North Korea and South Korea participate as one team at international sporting events, the flag is carried by the unified team. It was introduced at the 1990 Asian Games but was not used by a unified team until the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships. Outside of sports, the flag has been used, particularly in North Korea, to express support for Korean reunification.

The flag is a white field charged in the center with a sky blue silhouette of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and Ulleungdo. The flag's depiction of Korean territorial claims has earned it the chagrin of Japan, which claims the Liancourt Rocks. The disputed islets were added to the flag in 2003 but removed in 2018 upon the request of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Background and creation

Korea has been divided along the 38th parallel since the conclusion of World War II with the surrender of Japan on 15 August 1945. Exactly three years later, on 15 August 1948, the American-occupied south established the Republic of Korea, and the Soviet-occupied north followed suit with the proclamation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on 9 September. As separate sovereign states, North Korea and South Korea have since competed at international sporting events with their own teams, although they both claim to be the sole representative of the entire Korean Peninsula.

A detente in inter-Korean relations came during the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing, China, when both countries agreed to compete as a unified team. The "Unification Flag" was conceived amid logistical difficulties with simultaneously raising two flags (i.e. the flag of North Korea and the flag of South Korea).{{cite web |title=한반도기, 화합과 평화의 상징 맞나? |trans-title=Is the Korean Peninsula flag the harmony and the symbol of peace? |date=23 January 2018 |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/korean/news-42742358 |access-date=1 February 2018 |archive-date=9 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709031421/https://www.bbc.com/korean/news-42742358 |url-status=live }} While the unified team effort was not realized, the flag was prominently displayed by an unofficial cheerleading group during the games. The flag made its official debut in 1991, when North Korea and South Korea competed together as a single team at the 41st World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba, Japan.{{cite news|last1=Jo|first1=Hailey|title=A history of the unified flag the two Koreas will march under at the Winter Olympics|url=https://qz.com/1182652/what-is-the-unified-korean-flag-north-and-south-korea-will-march-under-at-the-winter-olympics/|access-date=25 January 2018|work=Quartz|date=19 January 2018|archive-date=25 January 2018|archive-url=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/|url-status=live}}

Design

The current variation of the flag features a sky blue silhouette of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and Ulleungdo on a white background. The silhouette is a smoothened representation of the actual coastline and northern border with China. According to both Koreas, the shape of Korea is meant to be symbolic rather than precise, and several smaller islands such as Geojedo are visibly omitted. The agreement creating the flag explicitly excluded Korea's westernmost, southernmost, and easternmost islands: {{Interlanguage link|Maando|ko|마안도 (평안북도)}}, Marado, and Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), respectively.{{cite web |title=아시안게임서 독도 들어간 한반도기 사용 어려울 듯 |trans-title=Asian Games will not be able to use Korean Peninsula with Dokdo |url=http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/bulletin/2018/08/07/0200000000AKR20180807136900007.HTML |date=7 August 2018 |access-date=21 August 2018 |archive-date=21 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821191923/http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/bulletin/2018/08/07/0200000000AKR20180807136900007.HTML |url-status=live }}

= Variations =

The original design of the flag featured only the Korean Peninsula and Jeju Island. Ulleungdo was added 2002 and the Liancourt Rocks were added in 2003. Socotra Rock was added to the flag around September 2006, after a dispute between South Korea and China over their exclusive economic zones.

Ulleungdo and the Liancourt Rocks were removed in an official capacity at the 2018 Winter Olympics{{cite web |title=Olympic Korean Peninsula Declaration |date=20 January 2018 |publisher=International Olympic Committee |url=https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/News/2018/2018-01-20-Declaration.pdf |access-date=1 February 2018 |archive-date=10 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210062528/https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/News/2018/2018-01-20-Declaration.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Annex B: Korean Unification Flag |date=20 January 2018 |publisher=International Olympic Committee |url=https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/News/2018/2018-01-20-Annex-B.pdf |access-date=1 February 2018 |archive-date=20 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180120210946/https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/News/2018/2018-01-20-Annex-B.pdf |url-status=live }} and other events in 2018, following pressure from the IOC and Japan. The IOC told South Korea that including the Liancourt Rocks would be viewed as "a political act" and violate the IOC's neutrality, to which South Korea agreed. Japan allegedly pressured South Korea to officially remove Ulleungdo as well, citing the fact that it was not on the flag used in Chiba in 1990. Ulleungdo was added back in 2019.

South Korean government policy allows the use of the Liancourt Rocks variation during private events or by people acting in an unofficial capacity, such as cheerleaders. For example, in the 2018 Winter Olympics, the Liancourt Rocks 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 protested these uses. Additionally, the Liancourt Rocks variation appeared on the team's official uniforms four days before the opening ceremony; BBC reported that it was quickly removed following media attention, while Yonhap News Agency reported that it was not removed until just before the athletes entered the opening ceremony.{{Cite web|url=https://sports.v.daum.net/v/oITUCQxq24|title=[올림픽] IOC, 관중의 한반도기 사용은 사례에 따라 달라|website=Daum News}}

{{Gallery

| mode = nolines

| align = center

| Unification flag of Korea (pre 2006).svg | Korean Peninsula and Jeju Island

| Unification flag of Korea.svg | Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and Ulleungdo

| Unification flag of Korea (pre 2009).svg | Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, Ulleungdo, and the Liancourt Rocks

}}

Usage

= In sporting events =

File:Korean unification flag seoul world cup stadium 2005.jpg 2005]]

The Korean Unification Flag has been officially used at several international events, either for a unified team, or for when the two teams march together in the opening ceremony while competing separately. In addition to international events, inter-Korean sporting events have used the Unification Flag.{{Cite book |url=https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315761930.ch3 |title=Routledge Handbook of Sport and Politics |publisher=Routledge Handbooks Online |year=2016 |isbn=9781315761930 |editor1-last=Bairner |editor1-first=Alan |doi=10.4324/9781315761930 |editor2-last=Kelly |editor2-first=John |editor3-last=Lee |editor3-first=Jung Woo}}

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.

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.{{cite book |last1=Mangan |first1=J. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cayMAQAAQBAJ&q=unified+korea+opening+ceremony+beijing&pg=PA145 |title=Post-Beijing 2008: Geopolitics, Sport and the Pacific Rim |last2=Hong |first2=Fan |date=18 October 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317966081 |access-date=18 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512180344/https://books.google.com/books?id=cayMAQAAQBAJ&q=unified+korea+opening+ceremony+beijing&pg=PA145 |archive-date=12 May 2021 |url-status=live |via=Google Books}}

During the 2018 Winter Paralympics, negotiations were stalled by North Korean officials requesting that the Liancourt Rocks be included on the flag.{{Cite news |date=8 March 2018 |title='Flag dispute' halts joint Korean march |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43327934 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310002124/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43327934 |archive-date=10 March 2018 |access-date=10 March 2018 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}

class="wikitable"

|+Official usage in international sports

!Event !! Location !! style="width:140px;"| Usage !! Ulleungdo !! Liancourt Rocks !! Socotra Rock !! {{Abbr|Ref|References}}

1991 World Table Tennis ChampionshipsChiba, JapanUnified teamstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15px
1991 FIFA World Youth ChampionshipLisbon, PortugalUnified teamstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15px
2000 Summer OlympicsSydney, AustraliaOpening ceremonystyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15px{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-2018-northkorea-flag-idUSKBN1F70RP|title=Two Koreas' 'one flag' emblematic of once better ties|newspaper=Reuters|date=18 January 2018|via=www.reuters.com}}{{cite web |author=John Gittings |title=Two Koreas will march as one into Olympic stadium|website=TheGuardian.com|date=11 September 2000|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/sep/11/northkorea.sydney }}
2002 Asian GamesBusan, South KoreaOpening ceremonystyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15px
2003 Asian Winter GamesAomori, JapanOpening ceremonystyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15px
2003 Summer UniversiadeDaegu, South KoreaOpening ceremonystyle="text-align:center;"|?style="text-align:center;"|?style="text-align:center;"|15px{{cite web |title=2015 SU Update: Both Koreas Marching Together Again after 2003 SU? |url=http://fisu.net/en/2015-SU-Update-Both-Koreas-Marching-Together-Again-after-2003-SU-3133.html?mbID=3304 |website=FISU.net |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=12 May 2021 |archive-url=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 |url-status=live }}
2004 Summer OlympicsAthens, GreeceOpening ceremonystyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15px
2005 East Asian GamesMacauOpening ceremonystyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15px{{Cite web|url=http://www.segye.com/newsView/20180117006291|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119170642/http://www.segye.com/newsView/20180117006291|archive-date=19 January 2018|title=[뉴스+] 기준 없어 지도·색상 '제각각'…평창 한반도기는 어떨까|date=17 January 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamy.com/north-korea-and-south-koreas-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-reuterspaul-yeung-image379896814.html|title=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|first=Alamy|last=Limited|website=www.alamy.com}}
2006 Winter OlympicsTurin, ItalyOpening ceremonystyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15px
2006 Asian GamesDoha, QatarOpening ceremonystyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15px{{Cite web|url=https://www.flaginstitute.org/wp/2015/06/korean-unification-flag/|title=Korean Unification Flag|first=Alex|last=Crouch|date=22 June 2015}}
2007 Asian Winter GamesChangchun, ChinaOpening ceremonystyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|?{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XW8BpNtAI8|title=Asian Winter Games 2007 Changchun|date=15 April 2007 |via=www.youtube.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1vW411772d|title=【开幕式】2007长春亚冬会开幕式_哔哩哔哩_bilibili|website=www.bilibili.com}}
2018 Winter OlympicsPyeongchang, South KoreaUnified teamstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15px
2018 World Team Table Tennis ChampionshipsHalmstad, SwedenUnified teamstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15px{{cite web |title=As one, Korea unified, the power of table tennis – International Table Tennis Federation |url=https://www.ittf.com/2018/05/03/one-korea-unified-power-table-tennis/ |website=International Table Tennis Federation |access-date=18 June 2018 |date=3 May 2018}}
2018 Korea OpenDaejeon, South KoreaUnified teamstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15px{{cite web |title=Unified Korean mixed doubles team cruises at int'l table tennis event |url=http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2018/07/18/0200000000AEN20180718005800315.html |website=Yonhap News Agency |access-date=28 August 2018 |language=en |date=18 July 2018}}
2018 Asian GamesJakarta and Palembang, IndonesiaUnified teamstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15px
2018 Asian Para GamesJakarta, IndonesiaUnified teamstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15px{{cite web|url=https://www.paralympic.org/news/indonesia-2018-north-and-south-korea-march-together|title=Indonesia 2018: North and South Korea to march together|access-date=22 September 2018|archive-date=22 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922101849/https://www.paralympic.org/news/indonesia-2018-north-and-south-korea-march-together|url-status=live}}
2019 World Men's Handball ChampionshipGermany and DenmarkUnified teamstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15pxstyle="text-align:center;"|15px{{Cite web|url=https://archive.ihf.info/en-us/mediacentre/news/newsdetails.aspx?ID=6127|title=Unified Korea to play at GER/DEN 2019|date=2 October 2018|website=IHF|access-date=3 October 2018|archive-date=19 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919225420/https://archive.ihf.info/en-us/mediacentre/news/newsdetails.aspx?ID=6127|url-status=live}}

= In other contexts =

File:Christmas Festival at Cheonggyecheon.jpg

According to American Koreanist Brian Reynolds Myers, North Korea and South Korea view the flag in different political contexts. South Koreans view the flag as representing a peaceful relationship and coexistence with North Korea, whereas North Koreans view it as representing a desire to have Korea reunited under the leadership of the North Korean government.{{cite web|url=http://sthelepress.com/index.php/2018/02/07/on-the-february-8-parade-and-the-olympics-b-r-myers/|title=On the February 8 Parade and the Olympics|first=Brian Reynolds|access-date=9 February 2018|author-link=Brian Reynolds Myers|last=Myers|date=7 February 2018|publisher=Sthele Press|archive-date=24 January 2019|archive-url=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|url-status=live}} In 2010, a large group of North Korean citizens and officials waved the flag when saying goodbye to South Korean Reverend Han Sang-ryol, who was returning to South Korea from North Korea by crossing the Military Demarcation Line at the Korean DMZ. He was immediately arrested upon his return to South Korea.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11034498|title=South Korea pastor arrested on return from North visit|date=20 August 2010|work=BBC|access-date=13 August 2014|archive-date=13 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813185243/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11034498|url-status=live}}

See also

{{Portal|North Korea|South Korea}}

References

{{Reflist}}