Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Chae Hwi-young (seventh from right in back row) on Sept. 29, 2025, takes a group photo at Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon-gun County, Chungcheongbuk-do Province, with the national taekwondo team for this year's Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan. (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)

By Kim Seon Ah

A joint preparatory committee has been launched to ensure the safety of the national team for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and Para Games in Japan slated to start in September.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on July 30 held its first meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Unification, National Counter Terrorism Center, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Korean Sport and Olympic Committee and Korean Paralympic Committee on reviewing preparations for the tournament and each agency's support plans.

To run from Sept. 19 through Oct. 4, the Asiad will see about 15,000 participants from 45 countries, including about 1,100 athletes in 41 sports from Korea. The following Asian Para Games (Oct. 18-24) is expected to attract some 4,000 participants from 45 countries, including 300 in 18 events from Korea.

The meeting's agenda includes review of the support system to ensure that the athletes perform at their best and reinforcement of cooperation among relevant organizations.

The competition will be held at five clusters in cities like Aichi, Tokyo and Shizuoka, with athletes' villages to be divided into containers, cruise ships and hotels. Administrative and medical support systems will be based in regional hubs.

To boost the safety of Korean visitors to Japan, relevant organizations will jointly launch a crisis management system to prepare for on-site contingencies and support safe attendance at the event.

To showcase Korean culture and sports, the ministry will also run the display pavilion Korea House at the fairground Live Nagoya near the Port of Nagoya. It will also host on Oct. 20 during the Asian Para Games "Korean Night," which will be attended by representatives from the national paralympic committees of participating countries and the Asian Paralympic Committee to promote sports exchanges and tourism in Korea.

sofiakim218@korea.kr