South Korea chases historic archery sweep in final Asian Games push

South Korea's archery team is chasing an unprecedented six gold medals at a single Asian Games at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Games. Traditional medal powerhouses judo, taekwondo and boxing are also set to contribute to a final-day gold rush.

Korea opened its archery account Thursday when Kim Jong-ho won the men's EMC individual event at Okazaki Central General Park in Aichi Prefecture — the first Asian Games individual gold for a Korean men's EMC archer.

Attention now turns to recurve, Korea's traditional stronghold. Sweeping all five recurve gold medals on offer would give Korea six archery golds at a single Asian Games, surpassing the five it won at the 2014 Incheon Games and setting a new all-time record for the event.

The first test comes Friday with the men's, women's and mixed team events. The men's squad of Kim Woo-jin, Kim Je-deok and Lee Woo-seok faces Chinese Taipei in the semifinals; the winner advances to the final against the victor of the India-Iran match. Korea is bidding for back-to-back men's team titles following the 2022 Hangzhou Games and a record 10th overall crown.

The women's team of Kang Chae-young, Oh Ye-jin and Lee Yun-ji takes on Indonesia in the semifinals. Korea has won the women's team event at every Asian Games since Bangkok in 1998, claiming seven straight titles through Hangzhou, and is now chasing an eighth consecutive gold. In the mixed team event, Kim Je-deok and Kang Chae-young face China in the semifinals. The individual events on Saturday feature Lee Woo-seok in the men's draw and Kang Chae-young and Oh Ye-jin in the women's, all three having advanced to the quarterfinals.

Friday also brings a wave of gold medal contenders in other events. In judo, Kim Min-jong, a silver medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, goes for his first Asian Games gold in the men's over-100-kilogram category. Lee Hyeon-ji, who earned her national team spot by edging out Hangzhou gold medalist Kim Ha-yun, competes in the women's over-78-kilogram class. Kim Jong-hun (men's 90 kg), Han Ju-yeop (men's 100 kg) and Kim Min-ju (women's 78 kg) also compete.

Taekwondo's kyorugi competition gets under way Friday, with Lee Yu-min in the women's 49-kilogram class, Kwak Min-ju in the women's 67 kg, Ahn Hyang-sik in the men's 58 kg and Kang Jae-kwon in the men's 80 kg. Ahn also enters virtual taekwondo, which makes its debut as an official Asian Games discipline at this edition.

In tennis, the men's doubles pair of Nam Ji-sung and Park Eui-sung meets Japan's Kusuhara Yusuke and Nakagawa Shunsuke in the final. A win would give Korea its first men's doubles title since Lim Yong-kyu and Chung Hyeon triumphed at the 2014 Incheon Games, 12 years ago.

In boxing, Jang Dong-hwan (men's 60 kg) faces Abdulmalik Khalokov of Uzbekistan and Kim Min-seong (men's 80 kg) takes on Ankush of India in their respective finals, as Korean men's boxing bids for its first Asian Games gold in 12 years.

The esports League of Legends national team, led by star player Lee Sang-hyeok — known by his in-game name "Faker" — plays Chinese Taipei in the gold medal match at noon Friday, seeking back-to-back Asian Games titles. The women's football and women's hockey teams compete in bronze medal matches against China and Japan, respectively.

Saturday marks what is effectively the final sprint for the Korean delegation. Only the equestrian mixed individual jumping event remains on closing day Sunday.

Saturday's schedule includes the recurve individual finals alongside Kim Yu-jin, a 2024 Paris Olympics gold medalist, competing in the women's taekwondo 57-kilogram class. Kang Sang-hyeon enters the men's over-80-kilogram taekwondo event, and sport climber Seo Chae-hyun competes in the lead discipline.

The men's football final provides the grand finale. The under-23 national team, coached by Lee Min-seong, plays Japan at Toyota Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, bidding for a fourth consecutive Asian Games gold.

Korea had collected 30 gold medals through Thursday. The delegation will rely on its traditional medal-producing sports, led by archery, to defend its third-place standing in the overall medal table in the competition's closing days.