50 athletes from 9 sports attend opening ceremony out of 1,051-member delegation

South Korea aims for top-3 finish; North Korea enters 8th

Rower Kim Dong-yong and table tennis player Shin Yu-bin carry the South Korean flag as the country's delegation marches into the opening ceremony of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, on Saturday. [Yonhap]
Rower Kim Dong-yong and table tennis player Shin Yu-bin carry the South Korean flag as the country's delegation marches into the opening ceremony of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, on Saturday. [Yonhap]

South Korea's delegation marched into the opening ceremony of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Saturday with table tennis star Shin Yu-bin and rower Kim Dong-yong as joint flag bearers, as the team targets a third-place or higher finish in the overall medal standings.

At the opening ceremony held Saturday afternoon at Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, 50 athletes from nine sports attended out of the full 1,051-member delegation, waving the South Korean flag and greeting the crowd. The number of participants was determined based on competition and official training schedules, as well as whether athletes had moved into the athletes' village.

Shin, the face of South Korean table tennis, and Kim, a veteran who has represented the national team for 17 years, led the delegation together carrying the flag. The athletes entered smiling, passed through a heart-shaped central stage, waved to the crowd and took their seats.

Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young and Korean Sport & Olympic Committee President Yu Seung-min, both in attendance, were also caught on the broadcast feed waving warmly to the delegation.

Shin told the games' organizing committee: "I found out I had been selected as flag bearer while I was in the middle of training. I felt it was an honorable role and accepted it with great pride. After the opening ceremony, all the athletes will put on a great performance, so please cheer us on."

South Korea entered 16th in the parade order based on the English alphabetical order of country names, following Kazakhstan. North Korea's delegation entered eighth, right after China. The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, which officially opened Saturday, run through Oct. 4.


th5@heraldcorp.com