Curious first-time surfers catch the wave as surfing shops spring up on local beaches

JINCHEON -- Sports Minister Do Jong-whan visited South Korean athletes preparing for the Asian Games at the national training venue Thursday. Do met with the athletes in volleyball, judo, boxing, taekwondo and karate at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, about 90 kilometers south of Seoul, and was also briefed on South Korea's preparations for the Aug. 18-Sept. 2 Asian Games in J...

Kenyan-born marathoner Wilson Loyanae Erupe has acquired Korean citizenship, capping off a journey that began more than three years ago. Oh Chang-seok, a former men's national marathon coach who now acts as an agent for Erupe, said the 29-year-old athlete was granted citizenship by the justice ministry on Tuesday. (Yonhap) He failed in his previous bid in April 2016. But he has been competing ...

Veteran South Korean shooter Jin Jong-oh said Monday he'll enter his fifth and likely last Asian Games next month with a renewed determination. The 38-year-old, one of the most decorated Olympians for South Korea, said it was a conscious decision on his part to keep telling himself that this year's Asiad, scheduled from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2 in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia, will be his final on...

South Korea defended its world title in the men's team sabre fencing in China on Wednesday. The quartet of Kim Jung-hwan, Gu Bon-gil, Kim Jun-ho and Oh Sang-wuk defeated Italy 45-39 in the final held at the World Fencing Championships in Wuxi, China. South Korea won its first men's sabre team title last year and has remained at the top of the game in 2018. Kim Jung-hwan, the senior member of t...

South Korea has picked up gold and bronze medals in the men's individual sabre at the ongoing fencing world championships in China. Kim Jung-hwan defeated Eli Dershwitz of the United States 15-11 in the final at the World Fencing Championships in Wuxi on Sunday. Fellow South Korean Kim Jun-ho took home bronze after losing to Dershwitz in the semifinals. Kim Jung-hwan celebrates his 15-11 victo...

South Korean table tennis player Jang Woo-jin had himself quite a weekend, grabbing three gold medals at an international tournament that wrapped up on home soil on Sunday. Jang defeated Liang Jingkun of China 4-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-7, 11-3) in the men's singles final for his third gold medal at the International Table Tennis Federation World Tour Platinum Korea Open in Daejeon, 160 kilometers sout...

A South Korean men's doubles ping pong team captured a gold medal at an international tournament on home soil on Sunday. The duo of Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon beat Ho Kwan Kit and Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong 3-1 (11-8, 19-17, 9-11, 11-9) at the International Table Tennis Federation World Tour Platinum Korea Open in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap) This was Jang's second gol...

South Korean figure skaters on Friday mourned the death of Denis Ten, a Kazakh star of Korean descent, taking to social media to express their condolences. Ten, the 2014 Olympic men's singles bronze medalist and a great-great-grandson of a Korean-born independence fighter Min Keung-ho, was stabbed to death in Almaty on Thursday at age 25. South Korean icon Kim Yu-na wrote on her Instagram page ...

LONDON -- Serena Williams demonstrated that having a baby had not robbed her of any of her phenomenal tennis skills when she became the first mother in 38 years to reach the Wimbledon final, with a 6-2 6-4 demolition of Germany’s Julia Goerges on Thursday. Goerges had come into her first Grand Slam semi-final having belted more winners (199), more aces (44) and more unreturned serves (113) than ...

JINCHEON, North Chungcheong Province -- South and North Korea have requested the top Asian sports governing body to allow use of a unification flag showing the South's eastern islets of Dokdo during the upcoming Asian Games, Seoul's Olympic chief said Tuesday. Lee Kee-heung, who leads the South's Korean Olympic & Sport Committee, said that the two Koreas recently sent a request to the Olympic Co...

JINCHEON, North Chungcheong Province -- South Korea on Tuesday vowed to fend off its longtime sporting rival Japan to secure second place at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia. Korean Sport & Olympic Committee President Lee Kee-heung said that South Korea aims to finish second in the medal standings with at least 65 gold, 71 silver and 72 bronze. "Our goal is clear, which is to secure second pla...

Kim Eun-jung, the captain and the skip of the Korean women’s Olympic curling team, tied the knot on Saturday. The wedding was held in Daegu, where the groom works as a skating coach. The two had reportedly been dating for roughly five years. Members of the Olympic curling team gathered at the ceremony to celebrate the couple. South Korean curler Kim Eun-jung poses for a photo with flowers at G...

PYONGYANG/SEOUL, (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap) -- South Korean women's national basketball head coach Lee Moon-kyu said Thursday he has his eye on "a few players" from North Korea, as the two sides try to figure out a way to combine their teams for this year's Asian Games. Lee got a first-hand look at North Korean national team players on Thursday in Pyongyang, when the Koreas met for a friendly ma...

South Korean Olympic swimming champion Park Tae-hwan announced Friday he'll skip this year's Asian Games in Indonesia, citing his poor form. "I've realized that I am in no shape to post good records," Park said in a statement released by his agency, Team GMP. "Rather than saying I am retiring, I'd like to take some time to think about my future." Park, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the men'...