JINCHEON — With the next Asian Games in Japan a month away, Korea on Thursday declared its goal of capturing up to 45 gold medals for a top-three finish in the medal race. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) gathered Japan-bound athletes at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, 85 kilometers south of Seoul, for a media day marking the 30-day countdown to the 20th Asian Games. The quadrennial competition will be held in and around Aichi Prefecture, with the prefecture's capital, Nagoya, serving as the main host. The opening ceremony will be held Sept. 19, though preliminary action for sports such as basketball, football, hockey and volleyball will take place in the days before that. The closing ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 4. The competition will feature 45 nations and some 15,000 athletes competing in 43 sports. According to the KSOC, Korea will send 792 athletes and 260 officials in 41 sports. Korea has finished in third place behind China and Japan at each of the past two Asian Games, after finishing in second place, trailing China, at five straight editions fr