S. Korea finishes 12th with nine gold in London Paralympics

South Korea finished 12th in the overall medal tally of the London Paralympics that came to an end in London on Sunday.

South Korean Paralympians won a total of 27 medals -- nine gold, nine silver and nine bronze -- from the Aug. 29-Sept. 9 Paralympics.

A total of 135 athletes and officials in eight sports, including sailing, archery, shooting and tablet tennis, participated in the 2012 Paralympics, with a goal of winning 11 gold medals.

South Korea failed to attain its gold medal target but jumped one notch in the overall medal standing from the previous 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, where South Koreans finished 13th with 10 gold medals.

In London, South Korean Paralympians won three gold medals from shooting, two from swimming and one each from archery, boccia, judo and table tennis.

China finished first with 95 gold medals, 71 silver medals and 65 bronze medals, followed by Russia with 35 gold medals, Britain with 34 gold medals, Ukraine with 32 gold medals and the United States with 31 gold medals. Japan finished 24th with five gold medals, while North Korea failed to win any medal.

The London Games were the 14th Summer Paralympics. The first formal Paralympics was held in Rome in 1960. Since Seoul in 1988, the Paralympics have been held in the same host cities as the Olympics.

The Seoul event was also the first one in which the term "Paralympics" was officially used. (Yonhap News)