韓國傳媒：主辦單位並無收到應由香港交出的國歌

[匿名者]

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/sports/2022/11/600_339811.html
By Park Ji-won

HONG KONG ― The Korea Rugby Union, the local operator of the second leg of the Asia Rugby Sevens Series held in Korea between Nov. 12 and 13, apologized for playing "Glory to Hong Kong," a protest anthem widely sung during the 2019-2020 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, instead of the Chinese national anthem, "March of the Volunteers," during the men's final round between Hong Kong and Korea held in Incheon, Korea on Sunday.

The Hong Kong government chastised Asia Rugby Monday morning about what happened and asked for an "in-depth investigation." However, the remarks of the Korean operator contradict those of the Hong Kong government.

Stressing that playing the Hong Kong pro-democracy protest anthem was "simply a mistake" by the Korea Rugby Union and that the Korean union immediately announced the mistake in the stadium and delivered an official apology to the Chinese and Hong Kong teams, a public relations representative from the Korean organization told The Korea Times Monday that "We ask each country to submit national anthems to play, but failed to get one (from the Hong Kong team)."

The person added that "our staff saved 'the Hong Kong national anthem' listed on the top of a search engine in the file folder named, 'Hong Kong.'"

The person continued that the Korea Rugby Union was later informed by Asia Rugby that the organization should play China's national anthem for the Hong Kong team but failed to delete the mistakenly saved file and delivered it to the broadcasting team. The official added that a staff member of the broadcasting team played the song in the file when Hong Kong made it to the final.

Also, the person said that the organizer then played the Chinese national anthem for the Hong Kong team during the award ceremony, after Hong Kong won the final.

An image showing Hong Kong winning the second leg of the men's Asia Rugby Sevens Series / Courtesy of Asia Rugby's Facebook page

However, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government said that the Hong Kong team had submitted the anthem file to the local operator.

In a Monday press release titled, "HKSAR Government strongly deplores and opposes playing of the wrong national anthem at the Asian Rugby Seven Series," the release said, "Rugby Asia also confirmed that the recording of the National Anthem submitted by the coach of the Hong Kong Team was the correct one."

The HKSAR said citing a government spokesman that "The National Anthem is a symbol of our country. The organizer of the tournament has a duty to ensure that the National Anthem receives the respect it warranted."

"We have already written to the Hong Kong Rugby Union last evening demanding them to deal with this matter seriously, launch a full and in-depth investigation and submit a detailed report, and convey our strong objection to Asia Rugby, who is the organizer of the Series."

The streaming video uploaded on YouTube for the Sunday competitions has become private due to the release of the wrong anthem, according to officials.

The song played during the final has been widely embraced as an anthem for the anti-government protesters in Hong Kong for its lyrics, including "freedom" and "liberate our Hong Kong."

A post on Instagram by Cafe de JarGor reads, "Visit our restaurant. If you show your Korean passport, you can get 50 percent discount on your bill. Screenshot from Instagram