17th Asian Games begins in Incheon

The flame to light the festival of the 4.5 billion Asians has begun. The 17th Incheon Asian Games held its opening ceremony in the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium on the morning of September 19 and kicked off 16 days of intense competition into October 4.

This event, under the slogan “Diversity Shines Here,” has 14,500 athletes from all 45 nations from the Olympic Council of Asia, and are in a friendly competition.

Korea, which is competing in all 36 events with 831 athletes and 237 officials for a total of 1,068 participating, is aiming for more than 90 gold medals, targeting second overall for five consecutive events since the 1998 Bangkok Games. Interest is high in whether Korea will use its home ground advantage to surpass the gold medal record of 96 in the 2002 Busan Games. North Korea, which is entering 14 events with 273 athletes competing, aims to finish in the top ten using their strengths in women’s soccer, weightlifting and gymnastics.