Asian Games at 75: Why they still matter

By Hankookilbo

• Published Sep 15, 2026 5:46 PM KST

What does the Asian Games actually mean in an era like ours? In an age of dopamine overload, when we can watch the world’s best sports — from Major League Baseball in the United States to European football— every day on a device in the palm of our hand, it is a fair question. Yet the Asian Games cannot be judged solely by their standing today. They have carried considerable historical significance throughout the decades.

Seoul is a city that once gave up the right to host the Asian Games. Seoul was originally selected to host the sixth edition in 1970, but at the time South Korea lacked the financial resources to handle a major international multisport event. Security concerns, including 1968 raid on the presidential compound by North Korean armed infiltrators, further complicated matters. In the end, South Korea returned the hosting rights, paying a $200,000 penalty in the process, and Bangkok stepped in to host the Games instead.

But 16 years later, Seoul was a completely different city. It successfully hosted the 1986 Asian Games and just two years later, held the Olympics. The country that had once found the international competition too difficult to shoulder had returned to host it as a nation preparing for one of the world’s largest sporting event. If the decision to give up the 1970 hosting rights vividly reflected South Korea’s poverty and security concerns, the 1986 Asian Games provided a stage for the world to see a transformed “Land of the Morning Calm.”

When the first Asian Games were held in New Delhi, India, in 1951, 11 countries took part. It was a time when newly independent nations were emerging after the colonial era and two world wars, and the countries of Asia used sport to affirm their sense of belonging to one community. The 1990 Asian Games offered China, which was facing international isolation following the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown, an opportunity to reconnect with the outside world and improve its image abroad.

At Hiroshima in 1994, the very “map of Asia” changed. The five Central Asian countries that had gained independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union participated for the first time, expanding the geographical reach of Asia. At Doha in 2006, all 45 member countries took part. The Games, which had started with 11 countries in New Delhi, had grown over half a century into a massive sporting event bringing together all of its members.

In this way, the Asian Games have taken on different roles in different eras. But showcasing a nation’s development or expanding the geographical boundaries of Asia is no longer their primary purpose. The Games, once Asia’s biggest sporting festival, no longer hold the same stature they once did. They now need a new answer to the question of why they matter.

So what answer will the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, which opens on Sept. 19, offer?Aichi-Nagoya has made sustainability and cost reduction key priorities. Rather than building new venues, it is using existing facilities, while even cruise ships and temporary accommodations are being brought in instead of building a large-scale athletes’ village. Recycled metals will also be used to make the medals.

The competition itself is changing, too. The six sports featured at the first Games 75 years ago have grown to 43 this time around. Sports familiar to younger generations, including esports and extreme sports, have been added, while modern pentathlon will feature an obstacle course instead of equestrian jumping. The long-running multisport event is embracing the sporting language of a new era.

But if some things need to change with the times, there are also things that must be preserved. The slogan for this year’s Games is “Imagine One Asia.” It embodies the Asian Games’ longstanding reason for existing: bringing together countries with different politics, religions, languages and cultures under the common language of sport. Venues can be scaled back and sports can be changed, but the need to connect the diverse peoples of Asia and reaffirm a sense of community remains valid.

In the past, countries used the Asian Games to showcase how much they had changed. Now, the Asian Games themselves must prove why they are still necessary in a changing world. Sustainability and a new sporting language are part of the search for that answer. As the Games reduce their scale and shed outdated practices, they must fill the space with a renewed reason for the diverse nations of Asia to continue coming together.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.