Asian Games Star Athletes Gather in Jeju as National Sports Festival Opens in Two Days

South Korean national athletes who shone at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games are gathering in Jeju to compete for the honor of their respective regions.

The 107th National Sports Festival will kick off in two days on October 16 and run through October 22 across Jeju Island, including the Jeju World Cup Stadium.

Hosted by the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee and organized by the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Office of Education, and the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Sports Council, the event will bring together some 29,000 participants across 50 sports events (49 official sports and one demonstration sport, jiu-jitsu) representing cities and provinces nationwide.

This marks the first time in 12 years, since 2014, that Jeju is hosting the National Sports Festival.

Competitions will take place at 74 venues both inside and outside Jeju Island.

Certain events such as shooting (Changwon), rowing (Chungju), hockey (Mokpo), and canoeing (Busan) will be held outside of Jeju Island.

The upcoming festival is drawing attention as a large number of national team members who recently competed in the Asian Games are set to participate.

Oh Sang-uk (Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall), a two-time gold medalist in men's sabre fencing who was named MVP of the South Korean Asian Games delegation, will compete representing his hometown of Daejeon. Women's epee individual gold medalist Song Sera (Busan Metropolitan City Hall) and Jeon Hayoung (Seoul Metropolitan Government), who led the women's sabre team to victory, will also take part.

Two-time shooting gold medalist Lee Geon-hyuk (Daegu Public Facilities Management Corporation), swimming stars Hwang Sunwoo and Kim Young-beom (both from Gangwon State Office), judo gold medalist Huh Mimi (Gyeongbuk Sports Council), modern pentathlon athletes Jeon Woongtae (Gangwon State Sports Council), Seo Chang-wan (South Jeolla Provincial Office), and Sung Seungmin (Korea National University of Education), and women's lead sport climbing gold medalist Seo Chae-hyun (Seoul Metropolitan Government) have also been included in the entry list.

Archers Lee Wooseok (Kolon), Kim Woojin (Cheongju City Hall), and Kim Je-deok (Yecheon County Office), who combined to win the men's recurve team gold medal, as well as Kim Jongho (Hyundai Steel), who captured the first-ever gold medal in the men's compound individual archery event, will also participate.

Lee Dong-geun (Korea University), who left his mark as a member of South Korea's first-ever gold medal-winning team in men's 3x3 basketball at the Asian Games, will play his final tournament as a college student ahead of the KBL draft.

Preliminary matches for badminton, gymnastics, cycling, and table tennis have already been held.

An Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), who successfully claimed the first consecutive women's singles badminton titles in Asian Games history at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, will compete as a representative of Busan to help secure a victory in the women's general division team event before heading to international competitions in Europe starting this week.

Women's vault gold medalist Yeo Seo-jeong (Jecheon City Hall) reaffirmed her status at the top of domestic gymnastics by claiming four titles at the National Sports Festival in the women's general division individual all-around, vault, balance beam, and floor exercise.

The opening ceremony will be grandly held for about an hour and a half starting at 6 p.m. on October 16 at the Jeju World Cup Stadium.

The torch that will illuminate this year's festival was lit on October 3 at Manisan Mountain in Ganghwa-do, Incheon, while a special torch was also ignited on October 13 at Haneul Yeonmot Pond in Jeju Stone Park.

The torch will tour 115 sections within Jeju Island before being finally lit at the opening ceremony.

(Photo courtesy of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.