Upside-Down Taegeukgi? Incheon City Faces Backlash Over Absurd Explanation of "Looking Upward Perspective"

- 81st Liberation Day banner at city hall rear gate sparks controversy as Taegeuk pattern is inverted vertically
- City consistently makes flimsy excuses, claiming "It wasn't drawn incorrectly… it's the perspective of looking up from below"
- Removals quietly made after two days as ridicule pours in over out-of-touch, ivory-tower administration
- Local government's sloppy inspection system, which tarnished the meaning of Liberation Day, comes under fire

Incheon City quietly removed a commemorative banner within two days of putting it up after facing heavy criticism that the Taegeukgi (South Korean flag) on it was vertically inverted for the 81st Liberation Day. In particular, right after the controversy arose, the city offered the absurd excuse that it was "not a mistake, but a difference in perspective," fueling even more criticism over public institutions' complacent administrative mindset and evasion of responsibility.

According to administrative authorities on the 8th, Incheon City posted a banner near the rear gate of City Hall on the 6th showing an independence activist waving a Taegeukgi, along with the phrase "The 81st Liberation Day, the day light was reclaimed." However, citizens and online communities poured in with points out that the blue part of the Taegeuk pattern on the banner was clearly flipped to the top, and the red part to the bottom.

Instead of cleanly admitting to a printing error or inspection failure, Incheon City offered the lame explanation that "it was simply expressed as a composition looking up from below at an independence activist waving the flag." Completely ignoring the characteristics of a flat banner and the universal perspective of the public, the city shifted the responsibility onto the 3-dimensional composition of the artwork.

Despite the claim that the positions of the four trigrams (Geon, Gon, Gam, Ri) were correct but misunderstandings arose due to the stereoscopic composition, ridicule followed that it was an excuse defying common sense. Ultimately, unable to withstand the wave of public criticism, Incheon City left a half-hearted apology stating, "We failed to carefully consider how it would appear as a flat surface," and voluntarily removed the banner just two days after it was posted.

Pointing out that even when dealing with the Taegeukgi—a solemn symbol of Liberation Day—basic design inspections were not properly conducted, critics emphasize that Incheon City's administrative practices, which were quick to make excuses when problems arose, are in desperate need of a painful overhaul.