South Korea's national team added three gold medals on September 29 at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, maintaining its overall third place in the medal standings.
As of this date, South Korea has won 24 gold medals, 27 silver medals, and 44 bronze medals, ranking third behind China (143 golds) and Japan (45 golds).
The country secured its three gold medals in badminton and kurash. In weightlifting, Park Hye-jung (Goyang City Hall) set a new national record while earning a silver medal.
Badminton was the standout sport for South Korea. The women's doubles team of Baek Hana and Lee So-hee (Incheon International Airport) delivered the first gold medal of the day.
Baek and Lee triumphed in the women's doubles final at the Ichinomiya City Gymnasium, defeating world No. 1 Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan (China) 2-1. This marks South Korea's first gold in women's doubles badminton at the Asian Games since the 2002 Busan Games. After settling for silver at the previous Hangzhou Games, Baek and Lee stood atop the podium this time.
The 'Queen of Shuttlecock,' An Se-young (Samsung Life), continued the gold medal streak. An defeated home favorite Akane Yamaguchi (Japan), ranked third in the world, 2-0 (21-17, 21-9) in the women's singles final. With this victory, An became the first player in Asian Games history to win back-to-back titles in women's singles. Throughout the tournament, she did not drop a single set from the first match to the final.
In kurash, a new chapter in South Korea's Asian Games history was written.
Kim Min-young (Korea National Sport University) won gold in the women's over 87 kg final, defeating Liu Yuling (Taiwan) 5-0. This is the first time a South Korean athlete has won a gold medal in kurash since it became an official event at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games. Following Mo Su-min's (Korea National Sport University) silver medal in the women's 78 kg category the previous day, the women's team secured medals on consecutive days.
In weightlifting, Park Hye-jung earned a valuable silver medal in the women's super heavyweight category. She recorded 133 kg in the snatch and 167 kg in the clean and jerk, totaling 300 kg for second place. Notably, she set new national records in both the snatch and total. The gold medal went to China's Li Wenwen, who lifted a total of 310 kg.
In boxing, promising news emerged for potential gold medals. Male boxers Jang Dong-hwan in the 60 kg category and Kim Min-seong in the 80 kg category (both from Korea National Sport University) advanced to the finals, ensuring at least silver medals. They will compete for gold on October 2.
South Korea's archery team, aiming for dominance across all events, continued its strong performance. All but one member, recurve archer Kim Je-deok (22, Yecheon County), who was eliminated in the round of 16, advanced to the quarterfinals in individual events. Earlier, the archery team also reached the semifinals in all six team events, including compound and recurve for men, women, and mixed.
However, some teams fell short of medal expectations. The men's handball team lost to Japan 32-37 in the bronze medal match, finishing the Asian Games without a medal for the second consecutive time. The men's water polo team also ended its medal hopes after losing to Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals, marking the end of a 36-year quest for a medal.
The women's football team also failed to reach the finals for the first time in history. Under coach Shin Sang-woo, South Korea lost 0-2 to Japan in the semifinals and will now compete for the bronze medal.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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