South Korean athletes are returning home from Athens Tuesday. After 16 days of competition, South Korea finished 9th in the overall medal standings in the 28th Olympic Games.

The 300-member squad of players, coaches and sport officials is set to arrive at Incheon International Airport Tuesday. After a brief news conference, followed by a disbanding ceremony, the squad is scheduled to visit the Presidential office in the afternoon.

Though Team Korea failed to meet its goal of grabbing 13 gold medals, it managed to jump back into the league of the world's top ten sporting powers. The nation finished 12th in the final medal tally at the 2000 Sydney Games.

Also this year, South Korea's nine gold medals were evenly divided among nine events, brightening the prospects of further diversification of medal-winning events for South Korea.

The first group of athletes returned home last week.