The Korean Olympic Committee held a sendoff Wednesday for the national team as it heads to Doha, Qatar for the 15th Asian Games in December.

Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, Korean Olympic Committee Chairman Kim Jung-gil, and other senior officials attended the ceremony at Olympic Park in eastern Seoul to encourage the national team's athletes and staff.

A total of eight-hundred-32 Korean athletes will compete in 37 events, with a goal of finishing at least second in the standings for the third straight Asian Games by winning more than 70 gold medals.

Basketball forward Lee Kyu-seop will carry the national flag. Shooting champion Park Byung-taek and fencer Seo Mi-jung have been named squad captains.

South and North Koreas have held their first talks since the North’s nuclear test in early October to discuss marching together at the games' opening and closing ceremonies, and possibly forming a joint team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The national team is scheduled to leave for Doha on November 28th.