56 South Korean competitors enter 50 categories as 1,385 athletes from 68 countries compete

South Korea, without a title since 2015, faces China, which has claimed four consecutive championships

Team Korea marches in hanbok as host nation stages humanoid robot performance at opening ceremony

South Korea's delegation waves the national flag as they march into the opening ceremony of the 48th WorldSkills Competition at the World Expo Culture Center in Shanghai, China, on Tuesday. South Korea is fielding 56 competitors across 50 categories at the competition. [Korea Human Resources Development Service]
South Korea's delegation waves the national flag as they march into the opening ceremony of the 48th WorldSkills Competition at the World Expo Culture Center in Shanghai, China, on Tuesday. South Korea is fielding 56 competitors across 50 categories at the competition. [Korea Human Resources Development Service]

Young South Korean competitors dressed in blue hanbok jeogori jackets marched into the opening ceremony of the WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai, waving the South Korean flag.

South Korea has claimed the overall championship 19 times at the competition, but its last title came in 2015. Now, 56 South Korean competitors are seeking to reclaim the top spot — on the home turf of China, which has won four consecutive championships since.

The opening ceremony of the 48th WorldSkills Competition was held Tuesday afternoon at the World Expo Culture Center in Shanghai. A total of 1,385 athletes from 68 countries are taking part, with South Korea entering 50 of the 64 categories on offer.

National delegations marched in alphabetical order, with South Korea entering after Kazakhstan.

All South Korean competitors wore blue jeogori jackets — male athletes in navy trousers and female athletes in hanbok skirts — waving the Taegukgi in one hand. China staged an opening ceremony performance featuring multiple humanoid robots dancing alongside people.

South Korea first claimed the overall title in 1977 and went on to win it 19 times through 2015, but has not recaptured first place since ceding it to China in 2017.

At the most recent competition, held in Lyon, France, in 2024, China took 36 gold medals to South Korea's 10. The Shanghai competition marks the first time WorldSkills has been held in China, and South Korea's athletes enter the contest against a dominant host nation.

Competitors began setting up their equipment at the venues even before the opening ceremony, getting ready for the contest ahead.

Ju Hong-jae and Jeong Se-hun, both Samsung Electronics employees competing together in the mechatronics category, set up equipment they had brought from South Korea at the venue. The category requires competitors to assemble structures, write programs and operate them like production equipment, based on tasks revealed only on the day of the competition. When Jeong described it as "a category where you run something like a small factory," Ju was asked whether he was confident about winning gold. "I'm confident," he said.

At a pre-ceremony rally held to cheer on the South Korean delegation, words of encouragement focused on performing to the best of their abilities rather than feeling weighed down by expectations.

Kim Jeong-ho, chairman of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee, urged the athletes to "shake off the pressure of having to win gold and show everything you have worked so hard to develop." Kwon Chang-jun, vice minister of Employment and Labor, said he hoped the competition would serve as "an important turning point in each athlete's personal life as well."


fact0514@heraldcorp.com