The Incheon Asian Games opened Friday in a ceremony featuring fireworks, K-pop music and traditional performances highlighting its motto of harmony between 4.5 billion Asians.

Some 60,000 people including about 10,000 athletes filled the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium in the western port city, marking the start of the 16-day run of one of the world’s largest sporting events.

“The 17th Asian Games has been prepared not as a festival for just a few nations, but as a magnificent festival for all Asians to celebrate as one,” Kim Young-soo, president of the Asian Games Organizing Committee, said in his address. 

Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah, president of the Olympic Council of Asia, also greeted the Asian fans and encouraged athletes and coaches to do their best.

“This show of unity and solidarity is already a victory for Asia and for the Asian Games,” Al Sabah said. “Compete hard and fair. Respect your opponents. Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat. Make new friends and learn more about the different cultures of Asia. Above all, enjoy yourselves.”

President Park Geun-hye and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach also participated in the ceremony.

The four-hour extravaganza started with a performance by the South Korean traditional percussion team Pungmul Play of Bupyeong. The mood soared as Korean boy band EXO sang their hits “Wolf” and “Growl,” with a number of Korean Wave celebrities offering congratulatory messages on a huge screen.

It was followed by the main artistic performance directed by Jang Jin, a renowned South Korean filmmaker. The principal sections of the cultural performance featured the future scenario of Asia uniting in Incheon.

The scene began with respected South Korean poet Ko Un’s “Song for the Asiad.”

“Sing of Asia’s Incheon, where Asia’s eyes and Asia’s burning hearts have gathered,” read the poem. “Gathered here with Asia’s long history, with Asia’s new friendship, we begin Asia’s new history.”

The poet’s deep, clear voice echoed in the stadium along with the mellifluous voice of soprano Jo Sumi, who later sang “Arirang,” an iconic Korean folk song.

Another performance came in the second scene that consisted of four themes: “Asia a long time ago,” “Asia, connected through sea routes,” “Asia, becoming family and friends” and “One Asia, the future we meet today!”

The story went on as Prince Biryu and Sim Cheong brought together 4.5 billion people from the entire continent to create a peaceful and joyful future, mainly performed by musical stars Oak Joo-hyun and Chung Sung-hwa.

Prince Biryu was the founder of an ancient nation in the port city of Incheon thousands of years ago, and Sim Cheong is a devoted daughter in a fairy tale who sacrificed herself to rescue her blind father.

With the mood coming to a climax, the national flags of 45 nations entered the grounds in the order of the Korean alphabet.

Nepal’s 196 athletes were at the head of the parade, followed by East Timor and Laos. North Korea, represented here by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, was 30th in line, between Japan and China.

South Korea, the host country, was at the tail of the procession as athletes and officials all dressed in white jackets and red pants waved their hands and national flags to cheering spectators.

The country’s biggest-ever delegation of 831 athletes aims to clinch second place in the medal standings with 90 golds in swimming, shooting, fencing, judo and other sports.

The lighting of the flame was the highlight of the ceremony. First lit last month in New Delhi, India, the hosting city of the very first Asian Games in 1951, the torch had a 36-day pilgrimage through 17 cities in South Korea and arrived in Incheon on Wednesday.

Five South Korean star athletes that have experienced moments of glory in their fields carried the Asian Games torch toward the cauldron. Baseball slugger Lee Seung-yeop began the relay and handed it to golf star Park In-bee, retired speed skater Lee Kyou-hyuk, former basketball player Park Chan-sook and tennis player Lee Hyung-taik.

The flame of the Asian spirit will light up the entire city for 16 days.

Korean pop stars made the ceremony a memorable evening by performing a small concert to fill the venue with excitement and fun.

The Games’ honorary ambassador, JYJ, sang its hit song “Empty,” and rapper Psy performed “Champion” in collaboration with Chinese pianist Lang Lang.

Psy’s world mega-hit “Gangnam Style” shone as the finale of the show, wrapping up the three-hour spectacle.

Prior to the opening ceremony, the Olympic Council of Asia held a meeting of its executive board to discuss the awarding of the next Asian Games in 2018 to Indonesia. That bid came about after Vietnam relinquished its hosting rights over the massive expense involved. It will be officially approved at a meeting of the OCA’S General Assembly on Saturday.

The council said Indonesia already had much of the infrastructure in place to hold the games and had already planned on building additional facilities before making its offer.

“For that, they were honest and we really appreciate that they announced it early,” Al Sabah said.

He said the OCA was seeking to attract more long-term commercial sponsors to cover 60-70 percent of transport, security and other operating costs of running the games, allowing the hosts to turn a profit.

(From news reports)