After more than two weeks of sporting action,... the curtain came down on the 18th Asian Games on Sunday with a glittering closing ceremony.
South Korea finished with 49 golds to rank third in the medal table.... behind China and Japan.
That's 16 short of the country's target, but there were still plenty of reasons to celebrate.
Won Jung-hwan reports.
For the past 16 days,.... Jakarta and Palembang, the co-host cities of the 2018 Asian Games, hosted more than eleven-thousand athletes from 45 nations competing for 465 gold medals in 40 sports.
On Sunday,... the Games came to a triumphant close in Jakarta.
If the opening ceremony wowed the audience for the richness of Indonesia's heritage,… the closing ceremony was more modest in scale, but extravagant in its liveliness.
It was a celebration of athletes from different countries that highlighted the culture of not just Indonesia but other Asian nations as well.
Bonding the nations together was the power of music.
K-pop superstars iKON and Super Junior took to the stage, turning the evening into a spectacular concert that was well received by the crowd.
But before the singers stole the show, some of the athletes came out to say goodbye to fans in Indonesia and thank them for their support.
While there wasn't a formal parade of athletes at the closing ceremony,… the two Koreas marched in together just like they did at the opening ceremony.
The two flag bearers, South Korean Suh Hyo-won and North Korean Choe Il of the North, came in hand-in-hand to big cheers.
South and North Korea competed as one in three sports -- canoeing, rowing and women's basketball.
And they far outstripped expectations,... winning four medals, including a gold in women's dragon boat racing and a silver in women's basketball.
Sending a congratulatory message to Indonesia for successfully hosting the Asian Games,… South Korean President Moon Jae-in highlighted the performances by the joint Korean teams.
He said he believes the deep sound of Arirang, Korea's most popular folk song, will bring the two together again.
As the curtain came down in Jakarta,... athletes will start preparing for the next Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2022.
It will be the third Chinese city to host the competition, after Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010.
Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.
