A game of finger-pointing unfolded on Tuesday after a source from the Korea Rugby Union, which was involved in organising the tournament, told the Post it had not received a recording of the national anthem.

Later in the day, Asia Rugby’s interim chief executive Benjamin van Rooyen admitted his officials had not passed the correct national anthem – which it had received from the Hong Kong Rugby Union at an event in Bangkok last month – to their Korean counterparts on the assumption they already had the file in their records.

“We have to take into consideration that Korea Rugby [Union] had on file the anthem they played in July when Hong Kong played against Korea,” he said, referring to a 15-a-side match also in Incheon.

“Asia Rugby did not give any file to Korea Rugby. I think this is another grey area where I would say from the Asia Rugby side, there was an understanding that Korea Rugby had this specific anthem on file based on the fact that in July, the correct anthem was played.”

There had only been verbal confirmation to the tournament director that the audio team knew which anthem to play on multiple occasions, he revealed.

Two interns at the Korea Rugby Union played the wrong anthem, van Rooyen said, with one of them finding an instrumental version of the protest song in a zipped “Hong Kong” folder on the computer, and the other one pressing “play”.

“That person has no understanding of the politics of the world,” he said.

“This is somebody who gives his and her time to support Korea Rugby. I can assure you, from my side, I don’t think there was any ulterior motive in any of this. This was a simple human error from somebody who was trying to do her best.”

As a remedy, van Rooyen said, the regional body would take the lead in providing the correct anthems to its 36 member unions, which would have to sign an agreement promising not to download or play any other version on their own.

A Korea Rugby Union spokesman later restated that Asia Rugby had not given it any anthem files.

“We had to download the anthems from online, including for women’s final teams China and Japan, but the other teams’ anthems were okay. It went wrong only with the Hong Kong team,” he said.

Hong Kong beat hosts South Korea 19-12 in the final on Sunday.

The Hong Kong Rugby Union said “March of the Volunteers” had been played at all relevant Asia Rugby events involving the city’s teams for the past 25 years – including at the same tournament in South Korea in October last year, as well as at 15-a-side matches played there, including the July 9 game.

“While we accept that this was an unintentional error it has caused significant harm to the team and people of Hong Kong. Future errors of this type shall necessitate the team’s immediate withdrawal from competition,” it said.

Hong Kong leader orders probe after protest song used at South Korean rugby game

Earlier on Tuesday, city leader John Lee said sports officials would look into improvements, while police had started looking into whether the incident in Incheon involved conspiracy to breach any local legislation, including the national security law, which has long-arm jurisdiction.

“It is the organisers’ responsibility to ensure that all things run properly and this of course includes the playing of the national anthem of any players who have won the match. We will do our best to assist the organiser to fulfil that obligation,” he said.

Lee added that he would ask the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau to study the matter, together with the sports sector and organisations, to look for improvements.

But he stopped short of revealing whether police would obtain evidence in South Korea, saying he believed the force had sufficient experience in handling the case and would take appropriate action.

A police source said the organised crime and triad bureau was expected to approach the Hong Kong team, the city’s rugby union and Asia Rugby to find out what had happened.

The force was also considering contacting Korean police through Interpol but whether they would cooperate remained uncertain, the source added.

Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, convenor of key decision-making body the Executive Council, said police should ask their Korean counterparts to help in the investigation, as agreements had been signed between the two jurisdictions on the transfer of fugitive offenders, mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and the transfer of sentenced persons.

“Hong Kong police should also investigate whether someone in Hong Kong sent the [protest] song to the organiser in a conspiracy to insult the national anthem or incite secession,” said Ip, a former security minister.

She noted the national security law had extraterritorial jurisdiction, and the government could ask for a suspect in South Korea to be handed over to Hong Kong for trial under the legislation.

Lawmakers urge Hong Kong officials to boldly promote national pride

Professor Simon Young, associate dean of the law faculty at the University of Hong Kong, said there were a number of requirements before extradition would be possible, including double criminality.

He said the agreement between the two places only required that the offence be punishable for more than one year of detention under the laws of both parties, but he doubted if insulting the national anthem would be an offence in South Korea.

“Even if the double criminality requirement is satisfied, Korea can still refuse to surrender on two potentially applicable grounds, that the offence is a political offence and on the ground of Korean nationality,” he argued.

“March of the Volunteers” has been played at international events involving Hong Kong since the city returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

“Glory to Hong Kong” was written during the 2019 anti-government movement, becoming a protest anthem sung at rallies and by some spectators at football matches. Three years after protests ended, the song is still a top search result for “Hong Kong” and “anthem” on YouTube and Google.

Additional reporting by Park Chan-kyong in Seoul, Jiwon Park and Tony Cheung​