Korean Unification Flag


The Korean Unification Flag is a flag designed to represent all of Korea when North and South Korea participate as one team in sporting events.

Design

The background is white. In the center there is a blue silhouette of the Korean Peninsula, including Jeju Island to the southwest, and Ulleungdo and the Liancourt Rocks to the east, added in 2003.
In the 2018 Winter Olympics, Ulleungdo and the Liancourt Rocks were not included in the flag.

Variations

Usage history

Sport

There was a plan for North and South Korea to compete as one team at the 1990 Asian Games although such efforts could not be realized. Ahead of the 1990 continental meet, the Korean Unification flag was conceived which features a silhouette of the Korean Peninsula including Jeju Island on a plain white field.
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 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea; the 2003 Summer Universiade in Daegu, South Korea; the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece; the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy; the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar; and the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. However, the two countries competed separately in sporting events.
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 '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.
At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang County, South Korea, the two countries agreed to march together during the opening ceremony, and also competed together in women's hockey. The countries attempted to negotiate a similar arrangement for the Paralympics, but negotiations were stalled by North Korean officials requesting that the Liancourt Rocks be included on the flag.
EventLocationJeju IslandUlleungdoLiancourt Rocks
1990 Asian GamesBeijing, China
1991 World Table Tennis ChampionshipsChiba, Japan
1991 FIFA World Youth ChampionshipPortugal
2000 Summer OlympicsSydney, Australia
2002 Asian GamesBusan, South Korea
2003 Asian Winter GamesAomori, Japan
2004 Summer OlympicsAthens, Greece
2006 Winter OlympicsTurin, Italy
2006 Asian GamesDoha, Qatar
2018 Winter OlympicsPyeongchang, South Korea
2018 Asian GamesJakarta and Palembang, Indonesia
2018 Asian Para GamesJakarta, Indonesia
2019 World Men's Handball ChampionshipGermany and Denmark
2020 Summer OlympicsTokyo, Japan

Other contexts

Other occasions on which the flag were used include the following:
According to scholar and Korea expert Brian Reynolds Myers, South and North Koreans view the flag in different contexts. South Koreans see the flag as representing a peaceful relationship and coexistence with North Korea, whereas North Koreans view its usage by South Koreans as representing a desire to have their country annexed into North Korea. In this sense, Myers says, South Korean usage of the flag is more detrimental to their country's status vis-a-vis North Korea than North Koreans' usage of it in regards to South Korea.