Korea third in Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games medals; 357-member para team to be sent
Version 2: The final Asian Games medal standings are unchanged; new reporting adds Asia Economy’s account of South Korea’s 357-member delegation for the Asian Para Games starting Oct. 18, including the Oct. 6 send-off ceremony and the venue and medical arrangements.
In short
China finished first in the final medal standings of the 20th Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with 169 gold medals, ahead of host Japan on 83 gold and South Korea, which took 39 gold, 43 silver and 68 bronze — 150 medals in total — according to Yonhap’s table. Maeil Business said India and Central Asian countries are rising quickly, quoting Korean Sport & Olympic Committee president Yoo Seung-min on state-backed sports programmes in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Asia Economy reported separately that South Korea will send 357 people, including 214 athletes in all 18 sports, to the Asian Para Games in Aichi, Gifu and Shizuoka on Oct. 18-24, with a send-off ceremony at the Icheon Athletes’ Village on Oct. 6.
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China finished first in the final medal standings of the 20th Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with 169 gold, 89 silver and 83 bronze medals, ahead of host Japan on 83 gold, 95 silver and 91 bronze and South Korea on 39 gold, 43 silver and 68 bronze, according to the table published by Yonhap. South Korea’s total of 150 medals placed it third. [ 1 , 2 ]
India was fourth with 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze medals and Uzbekistan fifth with 21 gold, 25 silver and 24 bronze, the standings showed. Iran was sixth with 19 gold, Thailand seventh with 18 and Kazakhstan eighth with 12 gold, 24 silver and 48 bronze — 84 medals in total. North Korea placed 12th with seven gold, 13 silver and nine bronze medals. [ 1 , 2 ]
Maeil Business said the table pointed to a change in Asia’s sporting landscape: the China-Japan-South Korea top three remains solid, but India and Central Asian countries are rising quickly. It reported that China’s gold count was 32 lower than at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and South Korea’s three lower, while host Japan’s gold tally rose from 52 to 83. [ 2 ]
Yoo Seung-min, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, said at an Oct. 4 wrap-up press conference that Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are fostering sports as national policy, building sports complexes and stadiums and working to host events, according to Maeil Business. He said support there is strong enough that the president serves as head of the national Olympic committee ex officio, and that they are discovering a wide pool of athletes and rising rapidly, drawing on ties with Russia. Yoo said visiting those countries for diplomatic work reminded him of South Korea preparing for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and that their established strengths such as boxing and weightlifting are getting stronger while they expand into other sports, the report said. [ 2 ]
Asia Economy reported that South Korea will send 357 people to the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games — 214 athletes, 104 competition officials and 39 headquarters officials — across all 18 sports. The Games run from Oct. 18 to 24 in Aichi, Gifu and Shizuoka prefectures in Japan. A send-off ceremony for the team was scheduled for 2 p.m. on Oct. 6 at the Icheon Athletes’ Village, with Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Dae-hyun, Korean Paralympic Committee president Chung Jin-wan and about 400 athletes, officials and coaches expected to attend, according to the report. [ 3 ]
Athletes are to leave the country in stages from Oct. 10 according to their sport schedules, with a send-off event at Incheon International Airport on Oct. 14 and a return on Oct. 25, the report said. The Games will be held without a central athletes’ village, split across six zones with one small village and 17 hotels, and the ministry and the Korean Paralympic Committee will send 36 sport officials to support team operations and safety, run medical rooms in each zone and station rehabilitation and orthopaedic specialists at the village and the zone 1 medical headquarters. [ 3 ]
The team has held about 20 days of special training per sport since July, along with education on appeal procedures for officiating and classification disputes, anti-doping, sexual violence prevention and the rights of people with disabilities, according to Asia Economy. Kim was quoted as saying, “I hope the athletes will show their best ability in their own places and finish the competition in good health,” and that safety and performance support will be thorough so that their efforts lead to valuable results. The report said the delegation will also have recovery and physical conditioning equipment, psychological support, Korean meals or lunch boxes and a visiting convenience store. [ 3 ]
Why it matters
The final table confirms South Korea’s third place at Asia’s largest multi-sport event, and comments from the head of its sports body point to India and Central Asia as fast-rising competitors, a framing that may feed into how Korean sports programmes and funding are discussed. The Para Games dispatch plan shows the second half of the Aichi-Nagoya programme, with South Korea entered in all 18 sports. For readers outside the region the relevance is limited to the Asian Games context.
Key facts
- China topped the final medal table of the 20th Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with 169 gold, 89 silver and 83 bronze medals. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Japan finished second with 83 gold, 95 silver and 91 bronze medals, and South Korea third with 39 gold, 43 silver and 68 bronze medals, 150 in total. [ 1 , 2 ]
- India placed fourth with 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze medals, Uzbekistan fifth with 21 gold, 25 silver and 24 bronze, and Kazakhstan eighth with 12 gold, 24 silver and 48 bronze — 84 medals in total. [ 1 , 2 ]
- North Korea placed 12th with seven gold, 13 silver and nine bronze medals. [ 1 ]
- Maeil Business reported that China won 32 fewer golds than at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and South Korea three fewer, while host Japan’s gold tally rose from 52 to 83. [ 2 ]
- Yoo Seung-min, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, said at an Oct. 4 wrap-up press conference that Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan foster sports as national policy and are rising rapidly. [ 2 ]
- South Korea will send 357 people — 214 athletes, 104 competition officials and 39 headquarters officials — to the Asian Para Games in all 18 sports, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as reported by Asia Economy. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- China finished first, Japan second and South Korea third in the final medal standings of the 20th Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. [ 1 , 2 ]
- South Korea’s final tally was 39 gold, 43 silver and 68 bronze medals, 150 in total. [ 1 , 2 ]
- India finished fourth with 21 gold medals and Uzbekistan fifth with 21 gold medals. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Kazakhstan finished eighth with 84 medals in total: 12 gold, 24 silver and 48 bronze. [ 1 , 2 ]
Still unclear
- The location of the Oct. 4 wrap-up press conference held by Korean Sport & Olympic Committee president Yoo Seung-min. Maeil Business gives the date but not the place, and no other document mentions the event.
- China’s and South Korea’s gold-medal declines compared with the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, and Japan’s jump from 52 to 83 golds. This comparison appears only in the Maeil Business article; Yonhap’s standings table does not mention the previous edition.
- Details of the Asian Para Games delegation, including the Oct. 6 send-off ceremony, travel dates and the split venue arrangements. These are reported by a single outlet, Asia Economy, on the basis of the culture ministry’s announcement; no other document covers the Para Games.
- South Korea’s Asian Para Games delegation will number 357 people, including 214 athletes across all 18 sports, per the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s announcement as reported by Asia Economy. Reported by a single source so far
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Korean Sport & Olympic Committee president Yoo Seung-min holds a wrap-up press conference, saying Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are fostering sports as national policy, according to Maeil Business. [ 2 ]
- Yonhap publishes the final medal standings of the 20th Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, with China first, Japan second and South Korea third. [ 1 ]
- Maeil Business publishes its analysis of the final table, citing Yoo Seung-min’s Oct. 4 press conference. [ 2 ]
- Asia Economy reports that the Korean Asian Para Games team’s send-off ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. that day at the Icheon Athletes’ Village. [ 3 ]
- The send-off ceremony for the 357-member Korean delegation to the Asian Para Games is scheduled at the Icheon Athletes’ Village, with Vice Minister Kim Dae-hyun attending. [ 3 ]