The South Korean delegation has returned home after a 16-day run at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Led by Korean Sport & Olympic Committee President Yoo Seung-min and delegation head Lee Sang-hyun, members of the South Korean team arrived at Incheon International Airport on the afternoon of October 5.

South Korea sent a delegation of 1,051 athletes across 41 events to the 20th Summer Asian Games, which took place centered around Aichi Prefecture, including Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 through the previous day.

While the majority of the athletes returned home individually according to their schedules after finishing their respective events, around 80 members—including headquarters officials, support staff, and the tennis, wrestling, rhythmic gymnastics, breaking, and sport climbing national teams—arrived today.

At this year's games, South Korea won 39 gold, 43 silver, and 68 bronze medals, finishing third overall behind China (169 golds, 89 silvers, 83 bronzes) and Japan (83 golds, 95 silvers, 91 bronzes).

Although South Korea maintained its third-place standing following the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang and 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games (held in 2023), it fell short of its goal to secure more than 40 gold medals.

In particular, the team recorded its lowest number of gold medals since the 1982 New Delhi Games (28 golds, 28 silvers, 37 bronzes), leaving tasks to address ahead of the Los Angeles Olympics two years from now.

Fencer Oh Sang-uk, who swept both the men's sabre individual and team events, was previously selected as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the South Korean delegation, as announced the day before.

Along with him, canoeists Cho Kwang-hee and Kim Hyo-bin, shooter Lee Gun-hyeok, and archer Lee Woo-seok became double gold medalists at the games.

The next Asian Games are scheduled to be held in Doha, Qatar, in 2030.

However, possibilities are being raised that the event could be delayed by a year for reasons including the status and box-office success of the tournament.

Most of the sports stars who proudly represented the country wearing the Taegeuk mark at these Asian Games will now prepare for the 107th National Sports Festival, which will be held in Jeju Island from October 16 to 22.

(Photo: Yonhap News)