Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Three participating countries at the Asian Games 2018 will change the flags they will use at the opening parade scheduled at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium here on Saturday.

"Kuwait will use its own flag instead of the Olympic Council of Asia flag, as before. South Korea and North Korea, on the other hand, will use the same flag; they will unite under a Korean flag," director of media and public relations of the Indonesia Asian Games Organizing Committee Danny Buldansyah said here on Friday.

He explained that the flag to be jointly used by South and North Korean athletes was a blue flag with a picture of the Korean Peninsula on it.

"However, there will be three different flags at the Asian Games Athletes` Village for the countries, consisting of a South Korean flag, North Korean flag and the Korean flag," he said.

Buldansyah said the opening ceremony of the 18th Asian Games scheduled in Jakarta and Palembang would see a concert displaying diversities in Indonesian culture and natural resources as reflected in the slogan of Energy of Asia for the event.

"The stage for the opening program weighs 600 tons and there will be more than 5,000 people involved," he said.

Buldansyah said he did not know yet who would carry the Indonesian flag at the parade or who would light the cauldron.

"I advise spectators to be at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium at around 3pm considering a possible traffic jam along the way to Senayan (stadium)," he said.

On Thursday (August 16), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially lifted its sanction on Kuwait after the contingent from the Middle East accepted a sanction for interfering in sports regulations in October 2015.

Due to the sanction, Kuwaiti athletes participate in international events under the IOC flag, including their participation in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Reporting by Imam Santoso
Editing by Yoshep Hariyadi

Reporter: Antara
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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