After missing almost a full year with shoulder problems, LG Twins' left-hander Cha Woo-chan returned with a bang, with a 2-0 record and a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings over his first three starts. That impressive comeback, plus Cha's championship experience, helped him get picked as one of only two left-handers for the South Korean Olympic baseball team. But the 34-year-old struggled mightily over the next two outings, as he was shelled for 12 runs -- one unearned -- on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings comb

CHIBA, Japan -- From time to time, South Korean fencer Jeon Hee-sook is reunited with her late father in her dreams. Whenever that happened, she always did well in following competitions. Jeon's father passed away in June 2008 and is buried not too far from his daughter's main practice facility, the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, 90 kilometers south of Seoul. She paid him one last visit before leaving for Japan earlier this month and saw him in her dream that same night. "

TOKYO -- Five years ago at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, South Korea pulled off an unprecedented sweep of four archery gold medals. The national anthem, "Aegukga," was played at every medal ceremony, covering the men's and women's individual and team events. For this year's Tokyo Olympics, a fifth event, the mixed team, has been added. It can only mean one thing: a chance for South Korea, the most dominant archery power in the Olympics, to make even more history. Since the modern arch

TOKYO -- South Korea's objective at this year's Tokyo Olympics is to win six to seven gold medals. And more than half of that total could come on the first full day of the competition following Friday's opening ceremony. Barring major upsets, South Korean athletes should contend for medals in archery, shooting, fencing and taekwondo Saturday. The most optimistic prognosticator predicts five gold medals. Jin Jong-oh, one of the most accomplished pistol shooters in Olympic history, could be the

The defending baseball gold medalist South Korea scheduled two additional tuneup games Wednesday in its preparation for the Tokyo Olympics. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced that South Korea will play the minor league military club Sangmu at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and then the KBO club LG Twins at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The team previously had only one scheduled game in the leadup to Tokyo, the 2 p.m. Sunday tilt against another KBO club, Kiwoom Heroes. All three games will be played

TOKYO -- South Korea is going into the Tokyo Olympics ranked world No. 1 in the men's sabre fencing. The ace of the squad, Oh Sang-uk, is at the top of the individual rankings, too. The country has earned the favorite status in both the team and individual events here. And to hear coach Kim Hyoung-ryul tell it on Wednesday, all the prescouting work is complete. "We came here all prepared," Kim said. "For the final few days before the competition, it will come down to repeating w

TOKYO -- When the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics takes place Friday night, South Korea will only have a modest-size delegation representing the country. Citing COVID-19 infection concerns, South Korea will have six officials and around 50 athletes marching in at Olympic Stadium in the Japanese capital, an official from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) said Wednesday. South Korea is sending 232 athletes and 122 officials to the competition. Volleyball star Kim Yeon-koun

TOKYO -- Tokyo remains under a state of emergency due to a rising number of novel coronavirus cases. At this rate, the Olympic Games the Japanese capital is hosting this summer may be under a similar state before the competition even starts. The list of Olympic officials quitting in disgrace grew Monday, when Keigo Oyamada, the composer for the opening ceremony, resigned over the bullying of disabled children in the past. The departure came only four days before the opening festivities. Oyamad

South Korean artistic gymnast Yeo Seo-jeong will try to match in Tokyo this summer what her father did 25 years ago in Atlanta: win an Olympic medal. The 19-year-old Yeo won an Asian Games gold medal in the women's vault in 2018, adding it to the two Asian Games gold medals that her father, Yeo Hong-chul, won in 1994 and 1998. Her mother, Kim Yoon-ji, was also a gymnast, and she won bronze in the women's team event at the 1994 Asian Games. In that gymnast family, the senior Yeo is the only one

TOKYO -- South Korea's quest for a second Olympic medal in men's football will kick off Thursday against New Zealand. The Group B match between the two will begin at 5 p.m. at Kashima Stadium in Kashima, about 110 kilometers northeast of Tokyo. Though the opening ceremony isn't until Friday, preliminary action in football will begin early for scheduling purposes. This will also be the first event for South Korea at this year's Summer Olympics. South Korea's best Olympic showing to date is th

NARITA -- South Korean Olympic chief Lee Kee-heung insisted on Monday the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has promised in writing that it would ban the display of a Japanese imperialist flag during the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, a pledge made when South Korea was asked to remove banners the IOC believed to be political. Upon arriving in Japan on Monday, Lee, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee and also an IOC member, said the IOC is hoping both South Korea and the host cou

The South Korean baseball club KT Wiz announced Monday one of their coaches tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The coach began exhibiting symptoms on Friday and didn't attend the club's practices on Saturday and Sunday. The coach was tested Sunday and got his positive result back Monday, the Wiz added. The club said it immediately informed the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) of the result. All KT players and front office staff will be tested and remain isolated until further notice.

Seven additional people from South Korean football club Seongnam FC have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, bringing the total caseload on the team to 22. Seongnam announced Monday that five players and two staffers have been diagnosed with COVID-19. After the first case from the K League 1 club was reported on July 11, the rest of the team received tests. The team now has 14 players and eight staffers on the COVID-19 list. Those who initially tested negative have since exhibited sympt

NARITA -- The main South Korean delegation to the Tokyo Olympics arrived in Japan on Monday, four days ahead of the opening ceremony for the competition delayed one year by the coronavirus pandemic. Jang In-hwa, head of the delegation, led a team of 69 athletes and officials from sports such as archery, gymnastics, table tennis and fencing. South Korean athletes in sailing, football and shooting, among others, traveled to Japan earlier in the month. Swimmers and badminton players arrived on Mo

The importance of the first game in South Korea's Olympic baseball title defense isn't lost on manager Kim Kyung-moon. South Korea's first game in Group B is against Israel on July 29. On paper, the third-ranked South Korea should have little trouble against the 24th-ranked Israel. But Kim thinks South Korea will be in trouble if his players take their opponent lightly. In particular, Kim said his hitters should be on guard against Israeli pitching. That's the preliminary report he received fr