As the Asian Games ended their 15-day run in Incheon on Saturday night, it was not the dominance of China’s athletes but the surprise attention of a North Korean delegation that had everybody talking.

During the Asiad’s closing ceremony, tens of thousands of people turned out to see off the athletes, among them a high-level North Korean delegation.

North Korea’s de facto No. 2, Hwang Pyong-so, sat near South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won in an unusual scene for officials of two nations that are technically still at war.

Hwang and two other top officials made a surprise visit that day and attended the highest-level talks between the two sides in five years, raising hopes of a breakthrough in ties.

Declaring the close of the Asian Games at Incheon Main Stadium, Olympic Council of Asia President Sheikh Ahmad al-Falah Al-Sabah said, “It’s time for us all to say good-bye to Incheon and good-bye to Korea.

The ceremony, including K-pop performances and a taekwondo display, ended the Games until Jakarta hosts the next edition in 2018.

China topped the medals table with 151 golds, roughly a quarter down from their 2010 record haul of 199 and their lowest total in 12 years.

Having achieved partial success in the medal race, the host country of South Korea earned 79 gold medals, three more than it captured at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games but still a distant second place behind China.

South Korea accomplished its objective of finishing second in the medals for the fifth consecutive Asiad but came up short of its target of 90 gold medals.

In particular, ball games achieved better-than-expected final results for the South Koreans, which reaped seven gold, one silver and three bronze medals.

The South Korean footballers won a dramatic victory against their North Korean rivals, and the South’s men’s basketball team staged a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Iran, the odds-on favorite in the competition.

The South Korean men’s team joined the gold-medal list in baseball, the most popular professional sport in South Korea, with a clean record of five straight wins.

Korea’s women’s teams were also brilliant, as both basketball and volleyball squads beat China to claim their first Asiad golds in 20 years.

Despite accomplishing its initial goal of clinching second place in the medal standings, South Korea failed to achieve a single gold in the aquatics and athletics events.

As well as medal winning performances, those who attended the Incheon Asian Games saw many records fall.

The 17th Asian Games saw 14 world records shattered. More than half of the new world records were set by weightlifters, who outlifted nine of the previous figures set in the sport.

The Asian Games were clouded by a series of sexual harassment allegations, accidents including the flame going out temporarily and several judging controversies.
 
(From news reports)