Table tennis national athlete Shin Yu-bin, center, carries the Korean flag while departing for Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 at Incheon International Airport on Sept. 17.KIM KYOUNG-ROK
Team Korea departs for 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya — in pictures
A 122-strong delegation headed out from Incheon International Airport to compete in the sporting festival, which spans 16 days and 71 disciplines.
Korea's Asian Games campaign got underway Thursday as a 122-member delegation departed for Nagoya, Japan, ahead of more than two weeks of competition.
Led by chef de mission Lee Sang-hyun, the delegation left through Incheon International Airport and includes athletes and officials competing in badminton, road cycling, women's handball, karate, table tennis and beach volleyball.
The Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 is set to open on Saturday with a ceremony at Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, and run through Oct. 4, spanning 16 days and 71 disciplines.
Roughly 15,000 athletes from 45 national Olympic committees will compete for 469 gold medals across 43 sports at the Games.
Events will be held across 19 cities in Aichi Prefecture as well as in Tokyo, Osaka and Shizuoka, with Nagoya serving as the host city. Some competitions have already begun, including men's basketball, which started Sept. 10, along with football and volleyball.
This marks the third time Japan has hosted the Summer Asian Games, following Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994.
The Asian Games are held every four years. The last edition, the 2022 Hangzhou Games, was postponed to 2023 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, bringing this year's Games just three years after the last.
Korean national team athletes competing in the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 depart through Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport on Sept. 17.YONHAP
Korean national team athletes competing in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games depart from Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport on Sept. 17.YONHAP
Table tennis player Shin Yu-bin, left, and badminton player Seo Seung-jae, who will compete in the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026, speak during an interview at Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport on Sept. 17.YONHAP
Korean national team athletes competing in the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 pose for a photo before departing from Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport on Sept. 17.KIM KYOUNG-ROK
Table tennis players Shin Yu-bin, right, and Park Ga-hyeon pose for a photo as they depart from Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport for the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 on Sept. 17.YONHAP
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative Al tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. AlI Al-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
