NAGOYA, Japan — With South Korea having fallen short of its gold medal target at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, the national sports chief said Sunday the country should embrace lessons learned from the continental competition in various aspects. South Korea finished in third place for the third consecutive Asian Games with 39 gold medals, with China once again running roughshod over the competition with 169 gold medals and the host country Japan collecting 83 gold medals, the most it has won at an Asian Games. Prior to the competition, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) had set sights on winning around 40 to 50 gold medals and narrowing the gap with Japan -- after losing in the gold medal race 75-49 in 2018 and then 52 to 42 in 2023. Struggles in traditional gold mines such as archery and taekwondo hurt South Korea in the medal race, KSOC President Ryu Seung-min said. "It is no longer just China and Japan; teams from Central and Southeast Asia are improving rapidly," Ryu said at a press conference with South Korean media in Nagoya. "It is true that we did not live up to expecta