Fourth Asian Winter Games Open in South Korea The Fourth Asian Winter Games, the largest ever in the history of the Winter Asiad, kicked off Saturday afternoon with a grand opening ceremony at an indoor ice rink in the mountain resort of Yongpyong, Kangwon Province in South Korea. Kim Dae-Jung, President of South Korea, declared the opening of the week-long Games, the last Asiad of the 20th century. Hironoshin Furuhashi, Executive Vice-President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), represented OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, who didn't attend the Games due to health reasons, to make a speech at the ceremony. Over 800 athletes and delegates from 23 countries and regions are participating in the Games, which are staging in the three sites of Yongpyong, Chunchon and Kangnung under the slogan "Asia, Shining Brightly through Everlasting Friendship". Athletes on the snow and ice will compete in 43 events in seven sports of the Alpine skiing, cross country skiing, Biathlon, speed skating, short-track speedskating, figure skating and ice hockey. In terms of participating delegations and athletes, the Kangwon Asiad is the largest ever in the history of the Asian Winter gala, which was launched in 1986. Before the Kangwon Winter Asiad, the Harbin Games in China in 1996 were the largest featuring over 700 participants from 17 countries and regions as well as 43 golds on offer. Japan sent the biggest delegation of 162 to the Kangwon Games including 101 athletes followed by China of 147, host South Korea of 136 and Kazakhstan of 126. But 102 athletes from the host are the largest competitors. The Chinese won 15 golds at home in the 1996 Winter Asiad, with Kazakhstan 14, Japan and South Korea eight each. But for those Games this time China kept a modest tone because Japan and Kazakhstan sent stronger athletes to the Games. Eight delegations from Macao, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Bhutan made their debut in the Asian Winter Games. Bhutan has one athlete for the competition while the other seven only sent officials to the meeting. The opening ceremony was followed by a 10-minute Korean folk performance and a 20-minute modern singing and dancing performance titled "Heaven, Earth and Human Beings," which symbolizes Asia's everlasting peace and advancement into the 21st century.