At the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, South Korea aims to secure up to 45 gold medals and defend its third-place overall standing in the medal table against host nation Japan. While China maintains its position at the top of the regional sports hierarchy, South Korea is focusing its competitive efforts on closing the gap with second-place Japan across major disciplines including judo, badminton, baseball, and handball.
Judo Rivalries and Heritage Bouts in Japan
South Korea’s judo delegation enters the tournament targeting at least four gold medals following a successful generational shift. In the women’s 57kg division, Heo Mi-mi competes under the South Korean flag after relinquishing her Japanese citizenship. Heo is a third-generation Zainichi Korean born in Tokyo and a fifth-generation descendant of independence activist Heo Seok. Japan counters in the same weight class with Mio Shiranane, who captured gold at the World Junior Championships and earned a silver medal at the Tashkent Grand Slam.
In the women’s 63kg category, Kim Ji-su pursues a gold medal following a prior silver finish at the Qingdao Grand Prix in June, where she dropped an extension match to Japan’s Narumi Tanioka. Unlike Heo, Kim was born in Japan to South Korean parents and maintained her South Korean nationality from birth.
Badminton Dominance and Defending Titles
In badminton, women’s singles world number one An Se-young enters the tournament aiming for her second 2-gold medal achievement after winning both the individual singles and team gold medals at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. An’s primary challengers include China’s Wang Zhiyi, ranked second globally, and Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, ranked third. Yamaguchi, who holds a 15-21 head-to-head record against An and has dropped their last seven encounters, confirmed to Japanese media that she enters the home-soil competition fully recovered from injuries and prepared for the finals. Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki, ranked eighth globally and a runner-up to An at the China Masters, also joins the field as an emerging challenger.
Team Sports and Tournament Pathing
Team sports present critical knockout matchups across the schedule. In women’s handball, which features a seven-team round-robin format, South Korea faces Japan on September 27 in a fixture expected to determine the gold medal, seeking redemption after a 10-goal defeat in the Hangzhou final. In baseball, Ryu Ji-hyun’s squad competes in Group B alongside Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, and Thailand, setting up a projected Super Round meeting on September 25 against likely Group A leader Japan, should South Korea top its group. Meanwhile, the men’s hockey team faces Japan on September 28 in its final Group A match, where a top-two finish is required to advance to the semifinals.
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