NAGOYA, Japan — For the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games that ended with the closing ceremony Sunday night, South Korea had set out to win 40 to 45 gold medals and narrow its gap with Japan in the medal race. The country accomplished neither of those goals. South Korea finished with 39 gold medals for its third consecutive third-place finish, behind China and Japan, and this was also South Korea's fewest gold medal tally since taking home 28 in 1982. The gap between South Korea and Japan was much bigger than that between South Korea and the fourth-place finisher, India, which finished with 21 gold medals. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) had projected it would be difficult for South Korea to catch Japan, which it thought would enjoy home field advantage. After South Korea finished 10 gold medals behind Japan at the 2023 Asiad, at 52-42 -- compared to a 75-49 deficit in 2018 -- the KSOC said the objective this time would be to reduce that gap even further. However, Japan pulled away early, with South Korea not earning as many medals from some sports as it had hoped. During the first we