With the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at the halfway mark, South Korea has moved into position to meet its medal target.
As of the 26th, exactly the midpoint of the Games, Korea stood third overall with 16 gold, 21 silver and nine bronze medals, behind China and Japan. The Games, which opened on the 19th, run through Oct. 4.
Korea entered the competition aiming for a third consecutive third-place finish, following the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games and the 2022 Hangzhou Games. In Hangzhou, the country won 42 gold, 59 silver and 89 bronze medals.
At the current pace, third place appears within comfortable reach. Korea holds roughly double the medal count of fourth-place Uzbekistan, which has eight gold, 17 silver and nine bronze medals. China leads by a wide margin with 107 gold, 41 silver and 28 bronze, while Japan sits second with 31 gold, 49 silver and 49 bronze.
Since Seong Seung-min claimed the delegation's first gold in modern pentathlon, Korea has added titles in teqball, swimming, pistol shooting, esports, fencing epee, 3x3 basketball, canoe sprint, artistic gymnastics, basketball and fencing sabre.
Canoeists Cho Kwang-hee and Kim Hyo-bin became the first Korean athletes at these Games to win two titles each. In artistic gymnastics, Hwang Seo-hyun, a 134-centimeter competitor nicknamed the "little giant," won the women's balance beam for Korea's first title in the event in 40 years, following Yeo Seo-jeong's victory in the vault. Korea's men's 3x3 basketball team took the country's first Asian Games gold in the discipline, which also marked the 800th gold in the history of Korea's Asian Games delegation.
With half the schedule remaining, Korea still has archery, badminton and taekwondo ahead, all traditional strongholds. The archery team is targeting a sweep of every event, and badminton features An Se-young, the dominant force in the women's game. Golf also offers four gold medals across the men's and women's individual and team events.
