"Is It Really Upside Down?"... Incheon City Removes 'Taegeukgi Controversy' Liberation Day Banner

Incheon City Voluntarily Removes Banner After Two Days
Explains: "Perspective Was Meant to Show the Flag from Below"

Incheon City ultimately took down a banner displayed behind City Hall to commemorate Liberation Day, after controversy spread regarding the Taegeukgi pattern on the banner being depicted upside down. The banner was removed just two days after installation.

According to Yonhap News Agency on August 9, Incheon City installed the banner on August 6 near a crosswalk behind City Hall to mark the 81st anniversary of Liberation Day. The banner featured the phrase "81st Anniversary of Liberation Day: The Day We Regain Our Light" along with an image of an independence activist waving a Taegeukgi with both hands. However, posts on social media pointed out that the blue and red colors of the Taegeuk in the image were flipped—blue on top and red on the bottom—prompting a series of critical comments accompanied by photos of the banner.

The Liberation Day banner of Incheon City, which was ultimately taken down due to the controversy over the 'Upside-Down Taegeukgi.' Yonhap News Agency, Incheon City

Incheon City stated that there was no problem with the design of the Taegeukgi on the banner itself. According to the city, the flag was not depicted incorrectly; rather, the intention was to show an independence activist waving the flag as seen from below. Therefore, the basic elements of the flag, such as the positions of Geon, Gon, Gam, and Ri, remained accurate according to the city’s explanation. Nevertheless, the city decided to remove the banner the previous day after determining that it could be misunderstood as depicting the Taegeukgi upside down.

An Incheon City official said, “We failed to pay close attention even to the parts that appear flat,” adding, “In the future, we will be even more diligent to prevent unnecessary misunderstandings.”

Meanwhile, Heechul Kim of the group Super Junior drew attention for commenting, “That's insane,” on related posts circulating on social media. He added, “Many people are voicing concerns about the Taegeukgi potentially becoming political, but regardless of left or right, it is our national flag.” He continued, “While I hope my fans won’t get entangled in this, I believe the issue of hanging the Taegeukgi upside down is neither a matter for left or right nor something for which I deserve praise or condemnation simply for exercising my voting rights. It’s just the natural duty for anyone who is Korean.”

Kyungduk Seo, a professor at Sungshin Women's University, also expressed regret that although the flag was not incorrect, it could still be misunderstood by the public. On August 9, Professor Seo stated on his social media, “Over the weekend, many netizens reported to me that there was controversy over an incorrectly depicted Taegeukgi on the Liberation Day banner created by Incheon City. Looking closely, the flag is actually being held and shown from below, so strictly speaking, it is not an incorrect Taegeukgi.” Nonetheless, Professor Seo pointed out, “Given the circumstances, anyone could easily misunderstand it as being flipped.” He concluded, “It would have been better if the banner had been created in a way that everyone could clearly recognize the Taegeukgi as correct.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.