They're not playing our song! North Korean anthem played at South Korean field hockey match

Read the original at Toronto Star ↗
Cite

Wade, S. (2026, September 18). They're not playing our song! North Korean anthem played at South Korean field hockey match. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/news/world/asia/they-re-not-playing-our-song-wrong-korean-anthem-played-at-field-hockey-match-at-asian-games/article_6cf30ce5-8051-53ab-9190-e6fdc105b3d1.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Toronto Star · collected 2026-09-18 · by Stephen Wade

Quick Summary

At a men's field hockey match between South Korea and Bangladesh during the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, the North Korean national anthem was mistakenly played before the game. The South Korean players were confused and unsure of how to react, with some standing at attention while others displayed other gestures of uncertainty or discomfort.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-20, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

On Friday, during the Asian Games held in NAGOYA, Japan, organizers mistakenly played the North Korean national anthem before a men's field hockey match between South Korea and Bangladesh. The South Korean players were visibly confused and unsure of how to react as they stood at attention with some covering their hearts. The stadium announcer apologized immediately for the error and clarified that it was an honest mistake, not due to lack of preparation. South Korea subsequently won the match against Bangladesh by a score of 5-0. This incident highlights the tense relationship between North and South Korea; playing North Korea’s anthem is illegal in South Korea because they are still technically at war since the Korean War ended with only an armistice, not a peace treaty, in 1953.

Written for “North Korean Anthem Controversy” on 2026-10-14, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 North Korean Anthem Controversy
Politics · 3 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
North Korean anthem played for South Korea at Asian Games same event · 100%
BBC News · 0.90 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 11 📰 publisher trust 72
“Both articles describe the identical incident where the North Korean national anthem was mistakenly played before a South Korean men's field hockey match at the Asian Games.”
North Korea anthem played at South’s Bangladesh hockey match at Asian Games same event · 100%
Al Jazeera · 0.87 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 10 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe the identical incident of the North Korean anthem being mistakenly played before a South Korean men's field hockey match against Bangladesh at the Asian Games in Japan on September 18, 2026.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
3
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 3 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
63/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-20 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Who wrote this

Stephen Wade
9 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 “Of course the result is important, and the fact that the players will be exempt from the military service is important,” said Lee Sang-hyeok, who is known as “Faker” in the world of esports.
2026-10-03 · assertive framing · South Korean golfer Tom Kim receives a military exemption with a gold medal at the Asian Games
🔮 “We’re going to take — if something like this will happen, we have our way of taking care of it.
2026-09-19 · assertive framing · Olympic Council of Asia president says politics have already entered into the Asian Games
🔮 Maybe more with a few new sports added.
2026-09-19 · assertive framing · The Asian Games are open with more athletes than the Summer Olympics and some unfamiliar sports
🔮 A lone Italian cruise ship, the Costa Serena, will function as a floating athletes villages with accommodation for up to 5,000 athletes and officials.
2026-09-18 · assertive framing · By the numbers: A look at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan
🔮 The Asian Games will open Saturday in Nagoya, Japan, with more than 11,000 athletes signed up.
2026-09-17 · assertive framing · The Asian Games are bigger than the Summer Olympics, at least in athlete numbers
Also by Stephen Wade
South Korean golfer Tom Kim receives a military exemption with a gold medal at the Asian Games
2026-10-03 · Toronto Star
11-year-old Japanese player Yuki Kurihara wins esports gold medal at the Asian Games
2026-09-26 · Toronto Star
Shin Ohashi of Japan sets world record in 200-meter breaststroke at the Asian Games
2026-09-24 · Toronto Star
Olympic Council of Asia president says politics have already entered into the Asian Games
2026-09-19 · Toronto Star
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 9 articles by Stephen Wade →

Topics

Bangladesh Japan NAGOYA North Korea South Korean

Subjects

South Korean NORP · 3× Bangladesh GPE · 1× Japan GPE · 1× NAGOYA GPE · 1× North Korea GPE · 1×

Narrative

NAGOYA, Japan (AP) — South Korean field hockey players were perplexed Friday when the national anthem of North Korea was played — instead of their own — before a men’s field hockey match against Bangladesh at the Asian Games.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-20
2026-09-20 · Toronto Star
They're not playing our song! North Korean anthem played at South Korean field hockey match · assertive framing

Claims (3 extracted, 0 hedged)

NAGOYA, Japan (AP) — South Korean field hockey players were perplexed Friday when the national anthem of North Korea was played — instead of their own — before a men’s field hockey match against Bangladesh at the Asian Games. asserted
anthem → perplex → Games
South Korean players looked on, unsure of how to respond. asserted
players → look → ?
Many South Korean players stood at attention, some ran their hands through their hair, and some left their right hand over their heart as the music played. asserted
music → stand → heart
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