Dots make a difference

BUSAN, South Korea: There is a whole "dot" of difference between the North and South Korean versions of their symbolic "unification flag" at the Asian Games.

The North's version has a dot representing an islet disputed with former colonial ruler Japan. The version of games host South Korea does not.

"Personally, I think it would be better to have the islet. But the flag is about inter-Korean reconciliation, not about Japanese affairs," said an official at Busan City Hall.

The original design of the white flag with a blue image of the Korean Peninsula, made in 1991, lacks the islet, called Tok-do in the two Koreas and Takeshima in Japan.

Amid increasing claims over the islet by Japan, the North and civic activists in the South have recently added the dot. But the dot was missing on flags handed out to South Korean cheer groups by the Busan government during the games.--AP