Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Flag error offends North Koreans 
 
 Olympic officials in London are to blame for a flag row which jeopardised a women's football game at Hampden Stadium in Glasgow, it has emerged. 
 
 The North Korean women's team walked off after a video introducing their players showed the South Korean flag. They later returned to play the match. 
 
 BBC Scotland understands the video package was sent from London and Hampden organisers had no input. 
 
 Prime Minister David Cameron said it was "an honest mistake". 
 
 We shouldn't over-inflate this episode - it was unfortunate, it shouldn't have happened and I think we can leave it at that David Cameron, UK Prime Minister 
 
 In a news conference on the eve of the opening ceremony of the Games, he told assembled journalists: "This was an honest mistake, honestly made. 
 
 "An apology has been made and I'm sure every step has been taken to ensure these things don't happen again. 
 
 "We shouldn't over-inflate this episode - it was unfortunate, it shouldn't have happened and I think we can leave it at that." 
 
 BBC Scotland's Olympics correspondent Kheredine Idessane said: "These video packages are sent centrally from London, out to the other venues, so, this isn't a Glasgow problem. 
 
 "There were the correct North Korean flags flying in the top tier of the stadium where they have all the flags displayed from countries who are competing in the tournament." 
 
 The North Korean team could only be persuaded to return for their match against Colombia after the error was corrected. 
 
 As yet the London games organisers have been unable to clarify who made the video. 
 
 The blunder had the impact it did because of the situation which exists between both Koreas. 
 
 Image caption Members of the North Korean Olympic team are staying at a Glasgow hotel 
 
 Both countries are still technically at war after the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice. 
 
 Speaking after the match, North Korea's coach Sin Ui Gun said: "Our team was not going to participate unless the problem was solved properly." 
 
 A statement released by London 2012 organisers said: "Ahead of the women's football match at Hampden Park, the Republic of Korea flag was shown on a big screen video package instead of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea flag. 
 
 "Clearly that is a mistake, we will apologise to the team and the National Olympic Committee and steps will be taken to ensure this does not happen again." 
 
 The incident made headlines around the world - except in communist controlled North Korea. 
 
 State news agency KCNA reported the women's Olympic football team beating Colombia 2-0 but made no mention of the flag row. 
 
 Meanwhile, Hampden Stadium will host two more Olympic football games on Thursday. 
 
 In the men's preliminaries, Honduras play Morocco at 12:00, followed by Spain v Japan at 14:45. ||||| The prime minister has hit back at comments from the US presidential candidate Mitt Romney querying Britain's readiness for the Olympics, urging the country to "put its best foot forward" and ensure they are remembered as "the friendly Games". 
 
 On a visit to the Olympic Park with the London 2012 organising committee chairman, Lord Coe, before Friday's opening ceremony, Cameron said the Games were an opportunity to promote Britain despite the gloomy economic backdrop. 
 
 "This is a time of some economic difficulty for the nation, everyone knows that. But look at what we're capable of achieving even at a difficult economic time. Look at this extraordinary Olympic Park, built from nothing in seven years," he said. 
 
 Romney said the fallout from the G4S security fiasco and a threatened strike by immigration officials were "disconcerting" and questioned whether British people would get behind the Games. 
 
 "Do they come together and celebrate the Olympic moment? And that's something which we only find out once the Games actually begin. It is hard to know just how well it will turn out," said Romney. 
 
 But Cameron, who was due to meet Romney later on Thursday, said: "In terms of people coming together, the torch relay demonstrated that this is not a London Games, this is not an England Games but this is a United Kingdom Games. We'll show the world we've not only come together as a United Kingdom but are extremely good at welcoming people from across the world." 
 
 Cameron said he was going to make this point to Romney when he met him later on Thursday. 
 
 Coe said more than 13 million people had now seen the torch relay, currently in central London on the penultimate leg of its 70-day journey around the UK. 
 
 The prime minister, with an allusion to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which London organisers have in some ways defined themselves in opposition to, said it was "not a state-run Games, it is a people-run Games." 
 
 He said the 250,000 applications for 70,000 volunteer places, plus the 8,000 ambassadors recruited by the London mayor, Boris Johnson, also showed the enthusiasm of the British public. 
 
 "It is about the people of the UK showing a really warm welcome and showing respect for all the teams and all the nationalities who come here," he said. 
 
 Cameron, who had spent the morning at a trade conference and has claimed £1bn in extra investment will be attracted by the Games, also expanded on the view of Britain he hoped the Olympics would present to the world. 
 
 "I think this is a big opportunity for Britain to put its best foot forward and say that if you want to start a business, come and visit. I hope people will see, yes, a great past, but also huge opportunities," he said. 
 
 "We're at the cutting edge of technology. Think of Tech City a few miles from here. Think of pharmaceuticals and life sciences. I hope people will see a modern and vibrant country as well as celebrating the best from our history. It is a great moment to celebrate that." 
 
 Asked whether the Games and Danny Boyle's opening ceremony, which will be watched by a predicted 1 billion people, offered an opportunity rebrand the country, Cameron said: "We don't need to rebrand Britain. Britain has a great brand. I hope people will see all the things they like about Britain's past, our history, our contributions to world development. But I also hope they will see a very open country and one that has an enormous amount to offer for the future." 
 
 In the wake of calls from Barack Obama and others for a minute's silence at the opening ceremony to mark the anniversary of the Munich Olympics tragedy, in which 11 Israeli team members were killed by Palestinian gunmen, Cameron said it was not the right forum in which to remember the deceased. 
 
 "It is right that in 2012, 40 years on from the Munich Olympics, we remember the Israeli team members who were killed there. We'll be properly marking the anniversary of that tragedy with a special commemoration and demonstrating there is no more diverse, more open, more tolerant city in the world than this one," he said. ||||| Jmart reported earlier that Mitt Romney is soft-pedaling his comments on the London Olympics after initially calling some of the problems with preparation for the games "disconcerting." His comment made a splash in the British media, and not necessarily the kind a candidate wants on the first full day of an overseas trip. 
 
 (PHOTOS: Romney in Great Britain) 
 
 Here's how The Telegraph and The Times of London picked up Romney's criticism online: 
 
 Read more about: Mitt Romney, Olympics, 2012 Elections ||||| LONDON -- After pointing yesterday to "disconcerting" events surrounding Great Britain's preparation for the Olympics, Mitt Romney this morning tempered his assessment of the country's readiness for the games. 
 
 
 
 In a joint appearance at Parliament with Labour leader Ed Miliband, Romney, who ran the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, said: “My experience with regards to the Olympics is it is impossible for absolutely no mistakes to occur. 
 
 
 
 "Of course there will be errors from time to time, but those are all overshadowed by the extraordinary demonstrations of courage, character and determination by the athletes," Romney continued, responding to a British reporter who asked about flaps here involving a shortfall of private security and mix-up of North and South Korean flags. "The games are, after all, about the athletes, the volunteers and the people of the community that come together to celebrate those athletes. They are not about the Organizing Committee. And as soon as the sporting events begin, we all forget the organizers and focus on the athletes.” 
 
 
 
 That's a markedly different tone than what Romney used yesterday in an interview here with NBC's Brian Williams, who asked the GOP presidential nominee if Great Britain was ready for the games. 
 
 
 
 "You know, it's hard to know just how well it will turn out," he said. "There are a few things that were disconcerting, the stories about the — private security firm not having enough people — the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials, that obviously is not something which is encouraging." 
 
 
 
 Romney was alluding to a planned strike by British customs employees that was called off yesterday, a day ahead of when the potentially crippling walk-off was planned on what is expected to be Heathrow's busiest day ever. 
 
 
 
 The Republican did tell Williams that the games are "overwhelmingly" about the athletes, but his raising some of the potential problems here has created a stir in the London press. 
 
 
 
 While the interview aired too late for the newspapers, both the Times of London and the Daily Telegraph led their websites this morning with Romney's critique. 
 
 
 
 "Mitt Romney questions whether Britian is ready for the Games," read the Telegraph's online headline. 
 
 
 
 Romney's comments come as all things Olympics grip London and Britons attempt to put on their best face for the event. The opening ceremonies are tomorrow, but athletes and government officials from across the world have already descended on a city that is swaddled in purple and "postbox red," the colors of the games. 
 
 Read more about: Mitt Romney, Olympics
– Mitt Romney kicked off his international tour with an appearance in Parliament today, where he tried to downplay London officials' North Korea flag mix-up by saying that "my experience with regards to the Olympics is it is impossible for absolutely no mistakes to occur," reports Politico. But if he was hoping to win Brits over with the statement, it might be far too late for that. In an interview with Brian Williams last night, Romney made some comments that quickly drew the attention of British media. The remarks getting the most thumbs down: "You know, it's hard to know just how well it will turn out." "There are a few things that were disconcerting. The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials—that obviously is not something which is encouraging." "Do they [the British public] come together and celebrate the Olympic moment? And that's something which we only find out once the Games actually begin." The Guardian reports that David Cameron today "hit back" at Romney's comments today, saying, among other lines, "We'll show the world we've not only come together as a United Kingdom but are extremely good at welcoming people from across the world." Politico's Maggie Haberman tweets what she read as a subtle dig at Romney and his Salt Lake City Olympic heritage: Said Cameron, "We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world..."