South beats North in karate with first inter-Korean showdown at Asian Games

South Korean karate athlete An Jeong-eun won the first inter-Korean match at the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 on Monday.

An beat North Korea's Jong Se-ri 3-0 in the quarterfinals of the women's under-61 kilogram kumite event held at the Toyohashi Gymnasium in Toyohashi, some 70 kilometers southeast of the main host city Nagoya in Japan.

In kumite, two competitors attack each other to score points, with the fighter who scores more points declared the winner.

An advanced to the semifinals, where she lost to Gong Li of China 8-0.

Jong is one of the two Korean residents of Japan competing at the Asian Games under the North Korean flag. Ri Song-a is the other, playing on the North Korean women's football team.

The bout between An and Jong was the first all-Korean showdown at the Asian Games, which officially began Saturday.

Later in the day, the two Korean women's football teams began their match in their final preliminary-round match at Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa in Fukuroi, about 104 kilometers east of Nagoya.

Yonhap