Host South Korea is leading the medal count halfway through an indoor multi-sport competition for Asian athletes.

Through Tuesday’s action at the ongoing Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, South Korea has grabbed 14 gold medals and 37 medals overall. The event is being held in Incheon, a metropolitan city about 40 kilometers west of Seoul.

China has also won 14 gold medals but trails the host nation in the total tally with 31 medals overall. Thailand is in a distant third with seven gold and 12 medals in total.

The event began on June 29 and will wrap up on Saturday.

Nine venues in and around Incheon are staging a dozen sports for some 2,400 athletes and officials from 43 countries.

The Incheon event marks the official merger of two separate competitions. The inaugural Asian Indoor Games took place in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2005, and the last edition was held in 2009 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Doha, Qatar, was supposed to have staged the Asian Indoor Games in 2011 but canceled the event. The Olympic Council of Asia then decided to combine the two different Asian Games in Incheon for 2013.

The sports include bowling, chess, e-sports, kabaddi, kickboxing, kurash and muay.

South Korea is represented by 121 athletes and 51 officials in all 12 events this week. It has won medals in six different sports, and has dominated the short-course swimming competition.

Swimmers compete in the 25-meter pool at the Asian Indoor Games, as opposed to the longer 50-meter pool at the Olympics and the regular Asian Games.

Of South Korea’s 37 medals, 19 medals, including seven golds, came from short-course swimming. Park Jin-young alone claimed four medals in the women’s races: gold in the 4x50 m medley relay, silver in the 50 m butterfly and the 100 m butterfly and bronze in the 4x50 m relay.

In the men’s competition, Yang Jung-doo led the way with three medals ― gold in the 50 m butterfly and the 4x50 m relay and silver in the 4x50 m medley relay.

At the last Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam, South Korea ranked sixth with 16 gold medals. (Yonhap News)