Korea names 357-athlete squad for Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games

The culture ministry said Tuesday that South Korea will send a 357-strong delegation to the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games, including 214 athletes competing across all 18 sports on the program, along with 104 competition officials and 39 headquarters staff.

Athletes begin departing Oct. 10 on staggered sport-by-sport schedules, with a send-off ceremony at Incheon International Airport on Oct. 14, and the team is due back in Korea on Oct. 25.

Second Vice Minister Kim Dae-hyun will attend a team formation ceremony at the Icheon Athletes' Village at 2 p.m. Tuesday, jointly organized by the ministry and the Korea Paralympic Committee, whose chairman is Chung Jin-wan. About 400 people, including athletes, sport federation officials and coaches, are expected to attend, followed by sessions on local conditions, disaster and safety response, media and marketing, and anti-doping.

The Games run from Oct. 18 to 24 across Aichi, Gifu and Shizuoka prefectures in Japan and are being held without a central athletes' village, with accommodation spread across one small village and 17 hotels in six regions. To limit gaps in medical and safety coverage created by that structure, the ministry and the committee are sending two federation staff members and a total of 36 sport liaisons across the 18 sports to oversee each team's operations, on-site communication and safety management. Medical rooms will operate in each region, with rehabilitation and orthopedic specialists stationed at the athletes' village and the regional medical headquarters.

Preparations have included about 20 days of sport-specific training between July and October, along with mandatory education on anti-doping, sexual violence prevention, disability awareness and the rights of people with disabilities, and on appeal procedures for disputed judgments and classification decisions. At the venues, athletes will receive recovery and conditioning support using cooling and compression equipment, along with psychological support and food services.

"I hope the athletes will fully display their best skills in their respective events and finish the competition in good health," Kim said. "We will carefully support everything from preparations for the competition to safety and performance support on site so that the sweat and effort our athletes have poured in can lead to valuable results."

Domestic support efforts will run alongside the team's participation, with provincial para-sports associations, Bandabi Sports Centers and fitness certification centers encouraging public participation through their networks.