Cambodian PM Apologizes Directly For The Overturned Incident Of The Indonesian Flag

President Joko Widodo spoke with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 42nd ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo, NTT, Wednesday (10/5/2023). (POOL/ANTARA PHOTO/Aprillio Akbar/rwa)

LABUAN BAJO - Cambodian Prime Minister (PM) Hun Sen apologized directly to President Joko Widodo for the incident of the Indonesian flag which was shown upside down at the opening of the 2023 SEA Games.

Minister of Foreign Affairs (Menlu) Retno Marsudi said the apology was conveyed when the two leaders of the country held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 42nd ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Wednesday, May 10.

"At the beginning of the meeting, Prime Minister Hun Sen apologized to Indonesia for the incident of overturning the Indonesian flag at the beginning of the opening ceremony of the SEA Games," said Retno when delivering a statement after the bilateral meeting.

The bilateral meeting between Indonesia and Cambodia took place after Jokowi chaired the plenary session opening the 42nd ASEAN Summit at the Meruorah Convention Center, Labuan Bajo, at 10.00 WITA.

The incident overturned by the Red and White Flag occurred during a series of Ceremonys for the Opening of the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia at the Morodok Techno National Stadium, Phnom Penh, Friday (5/5).

The organizing committee of the 2023 SEA Games took the initiative to present a pre-show because they saw that the stadium stands had been crowded with enthusiastic people watching the opening ceremony.

They presented the appearance of one of the local singers accompanied by a number of dancers carrying flags of the participating countries of the SEA Games. Ironically, the Indonesian flag carried by all of the dancers is in a reversed position.

The incident was immediately responded to by the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) or NOC Indonesia by sending an objection letter to the Cambodian 2023 SEA Games Organizing Committee (CAMSOC).

According to the Acting Secretary General (Sekjen) of NOC Indonesia Harry Warganegara, Friday (5/5), Cambodia has apologized directly after the incident.

Then, a day later, Cambodian Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Hang Chuon Naron held a meeting with the Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora) Dito Ariotedjo to discuss the incident and apologize.

Dito appealed to the Indonesian people to be tolerant in accepting an apology from Cambodia through uploads on the @ditoarijotedjo Instagram account.

"I'm sorry, this was not intentional. Earlier, he (Hang Chuon Naron) was really from the heart," wrote Dito, Saturday (6/5).