Anchor: South Korea’s main squad of athletes competing in the London Olympics will depart for the host city Friday in hopes of bringing home 10 gold medals and a top-ten finish for the third summer games in a row. Kim In-kyung files this report.

Report: Team Korea's main squad will depart for the London Olympics from Incheon International Airport at 2 p.m. Friday. The delegation of 101 athletes and officials includes 20 fencers, 38 hockey players, eight taekwondo athletes, eight weightlifters, eight track and field athletes and four boxers.

The Korean national soccer team, which is vying for its first Olympic medal, has already left for London, as have athletes participating in gymnastics, yacht racing, women's volleyball, swimming and archery.

South Korea is sending 245 athletes and 129 officials to the London Olympics that open July 27th and run through August 12th. This year's athlete total is the smallest the nation has sent to the Games since it qualified 210 athletes to compete in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Still, the Korean Olympic Committee aims to win more than ten gold medals for a top-ten finish in the medal count for the third Summer Olympics in a row since Athens hosted the Games in 2004.

The London Olympics are highly significant for the Korean team, since London's 1948 hosting was the first the Korean squad entered the Olympics carrying the national flag. That was before the South Korean government was established, but 70 athletes and officials participated in the games and let the world know that Korea is an independent country.

The Korean team's fitting motto for the 2012 Olympics is "From London to London."

Kim In-kyung, KBS World Radio News.