South Korea (officially the Republic of Korea) was the host nation of the 2002 Asian Games held in Busan from September 29 to October 14, 2002. South Korea was represented by the Korean Olympic Committee, and the South Korean delegation was the largest in this edition of the Asian Games. The delegation of 1,008 people included 770 competitors – 460 men, 310 women – and 238 officials (217 men and 21 women). North Korea competed for the first time in an international sporting event hosted by South Korea. Both nations marched together at the opening ceremony with a Korean Unification Flag depicting the Korean Peninsula as United Korea.