Even if it was a young South Korean athlete who shined a laser pointer at Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the closing ceremony of the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing last week, the culprit should be shown leniency, not blame.

The Embassy of the Republic of Korea to China Tuesday said in a statement posted on Sina Weibo that, while they have yet to confirm ­whether it was a South Korean athlete who shined a pointer in the direction of "a leader of a country," they expressed their apologies for this "improper" and "regrettable" incident.

Photos of the incident and video replays have showed the green light source came from the stand for South Korean athletes. For a juvenile, ­mistakes can be made, but corrective education should follow.

However, the officials managing the South Korean delegation should take responsibility for such a blunder.

Ahead of the closing ceremony, director Chen Weiya and emcees asked everyone in the Olympic Sports Centre not to use laser pointers during the ceremony. The statement was delivered more than three times in both Chinese and English. ­Nonetheless, South Korean officials clearly pretended they didn't hear it. They did nothing to stop the green light emerging from the stands where they sat.

As a result of the sports rivalry between the two countries, this incident, if not well-managed, could result in more extreme incidents down the road.

Take soccer as an example. The most popular game on both sides, it is an obvious area for reprisals.

When South Korea reached the semifinals of the World Cup in 2002, the best result ever posted by an Asian team, rather than applause for their "breakthrough," they received criticism for needing the help of a "black whistle" to get through.

Even though the event didn't even involve China, some observers saw it as an example of slanted opinion.

Following the laser pointer incident, some Chinese netizens even swore to "take revenge" at the Asian Games later this month in Incheon.

South Koreans should speed up their investigation, and make sure they make the right call, or the result might be something that neither side wants.