The International Olympic Committee lifted a ban on Iraq’s Olympic participation as the Middle Eastern country promised to revive its Olympic committee.

Due to Iraq's inclusion into the global sporting event, South Korea will march later than initially planned at the opening ceremony.

The national squads of South and North Korea will march one after the other as 177th and 178th among 205 participating teams. Iraq will be placed 80th in the marching order.

The host country, China, determined the marching order of all participating nations according to the number of strokes in the first Chinese letter of each country's name.