[Anchor]

Korean athletes competing at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games had a golden day today (October 1), bagging six gold medals—the highest single-day tally of the current tournament. Huh Mimi, a Zainichi Korean and a descendant of the independence activist Huh Seok, captured South Korea's first judo gold medal of the games. She raised the South Korean flag at the very top in Japan, where she was born and raised.

Reporting from Nagoya, this is Ha Seong-nyong.

[Reporter]

Twenty-three-year-old Huh Mimi, a silver medalist at the Paris Olympics, made a fierce start in her Asian Games debut.

In the Round of 16, she scored a waza-ari with a lightning-fast seoi-nage (shoulder throw) against her Philippine opponent, followed by another waza-ari with an osae-komi (hold-down) to secure an ippon victory in just 28 seconds.

In the quarterfinals against a Chinese opponent, she claimed another ippon victory via hold-down in 1 minute and 30 seconds, bringing her total mat time for her first two matches to under two minutes. However, she faced a hair-raising moment in the semifinals.

Her left arm was twisted by a dangerous foul from her Uzbek opponent, causing her to wince in pain. Fortunately, she avoided a major injury and advanced via a foul win.

[Huh Mimi / National Judo Team : My arm was caught underneath and twisted, but (I) managed to hold out enough not to get badly hurt, so I think I'm okay.]

She showed no hesitation in the final either.

After scoring a yuko with a sode-tsurikomi-goshi or related sweep against her Mongolian opponent in just 10 seconds, she dominated the rest of the match to claim the gold.

Standing atop the podium in her first major international competition since undergoing shoulder surgery last year, Huh embraced coach Jeong Sung-sook and shed tears of relief.

[Huh Mimi / National Judo Team : I didn't cry.]

[Huh Mimi / National Judo Team : Because I had surgery and doubted whether I could climb back up (to the top), I worried a lot. I didn't cry because I won the gold medal, but I was about to tear up a little bit.]

A Zainichi Korean who naturalized five years ago following her late grandmother's dying wish to bear the Taegeukgi, Huh experienced the special emotion of hearing the South Korean national anthem in Japan, the birthplace of judo where she grew up.

[Huh Mimi / National Judo Team : Because my grandmother said those words, I made that choice (to naturalize), and I am living very happily. Once the (anthem) played, I felt like I might cry a bit, but I think I did well (singing along).]

She also kept her promise to visit the grave of her great-great-grandfather and independence activist Huh Seok with a gold medal, having previously visited with a silver medal after the Paris Olympics.

[Huh Mimi / National Judo Team : Since I won a gold medal this time, I think I can take it (to the grave) with a joyful heart.]

Huh will aim for her second gold medal of the tournament in the mixed team event scheduled for the day after tomorrow (October 3).

---

In the men's 81kg division, Lee Joon-hwan secured an ippon victory against his Iranian opponent in the bronze medal match, standing on the podium for the second consecutive Asian Games following his silver in Hangzhou.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
Reported by Ha Seong-nyong | Video by Park Hyun-chul | Video Editing by Park Ki-deok | Graphics by Yang Gi-tae