Host South Korea captured five gold medals as part of its 13-medal first day of official competition at the ongoing Asian Games on Saturday, putting itself solidly on track to win the desired 90 gold medals at the multisport competition.South Korea shot to the top of the medal standings, but China is right behind with 11 medals, including five golds. China has reigned supreme at the Asian Games for more than three decades, and it may just be a matter of time before China overtakes the host on th

  North Korean weightlifter Om Yun-chol claimed his country's first gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games here on Saturday in a record-breaking fashion.Om broke his own world record with a lift of 170㎏ in the clean and jerk. He also hoisted 128㎏ in the snatch earlier for an Asian Games record total of 298㎏ at the Moonlight Festival Garden Weightlifting Venue in the western port city.Om, 22, had lifted 169㎏ during the Asian Senior Interclub Weightlifting Championship held in Pyongyang last year.This

 North Korean judoka Kim Sol-mi on Saturday won bronze in the women's under 48-kilogram division at the Incheon Asian Games, giving her country its first Asiad medal on the first day of competition.She routed Aigul Baikuleva from Kazakhstan for ippon in the repechage final at Dowon Gymnasium, western Incheon.She passed the first round for ippon, ousting Amanova Aikanysh from Kyrgyzstan, and met South Korea's Jeong Bo-Kyeong in the quarterfinals.In the inter-Korean duel, the North's athlete lost

South Korea claimed a much-anticipated gold in the team dressage equestrian event at the Asian Games on Saturday, extending its winning streak at the multinational event to five.Hwang Young-shik, Chung Yoo-yeon and Kim Dong-seon of South Korea combined for an average of 71.746 points in Incheon, ahead of second-place Japan with 69.842 points on average.Hwang, 23, was the best rider among all 32 with 74.342 points.The gold was his third consecutive title at the Asian Games following two golds at

Lee Ha-sung in wushu captured  South Korea's first gold medal at the ongoing Incheon Asian Games on Saturday. Lee Ha-sung in wushu, Korea's first gold medalist in the 2014 Asian Games (Yonhap)Competing in the men's changquan final, Lee scored 9.71 points  for the host's first gold medal at Ganghwa Dolmens Gymnasium in the  western port city. Jia Rui of Macau was the silver medalist with  9.69 points. Daisuke Ichikizaki of Japan got the bronze with 9.67 points.    Lee earned 5.00 points in qualit

Popular South Korean celebrities shined over the opening ceremony of the 2014 Asian Games on Friday, as they appeared in short succession and kept the spectators glued to their seats.   Minutes before the start of the pan-continental sports festival, South Korean boy band EXO entered the stage amid a boisterous crowd. Dedicated fans packed one side of the stadium and screamed as the group performed its 2013 hits "Wolf" and "Growl."     South Korean celebs, including actor Kim Soo-hyun (second fr

The South Korean government is in internal discussions on the amount of financial support for North Korean athletes participating in the Incheon Asian Games, an official here said Thursday.The North has sent a 273-member delegation to the games to open in the South's western port city on Friday.Earlier this week, the organizing committee for the event formally asked the government to use taxpayers' money to financially support the North's participation, the unification ministry official told rep

South Korean rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae's upcoming performance at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon was selected as the most anticipated event by spectators here, a survey showed Thursday.The country's top rhythmic gymnast took 25.4 percent of the popularity vote of 3,000 South Koreans in their 20s to 50s, according to the survey by the local polling agency Panel Marketing Interactive (PMI). The 20-year-old gymnast finished fifth in the individual all-around at the world championships last year

Coinciding with the Incheon Asian Games, the inaugural K-pop Expo in Asia will kick off a two-week live music expose to highlight Korean music. With international eyes on Incheon during the two-week sports competition, which starts Friday, Incheon will also host Asia’s biggest K-pop showcase, hoping to attract participants and visitors of the games.“The K-pop Expo is the largest pop expo in Asia, and aims to create a huge festival for the 4.5 billion Asians in the world,” said concert director S