Out of the 44 countries taking part in the Busan Asiad this year, three countries are notable either because this is either their debut in the games or their first appearence after a long absence.

North Korea

Most prominent of all is North Korea's participation, marking the first time the reclusive country is taking part in a major competition.

More significantly, North Korean teams will march alongside their rival South Korean teams under a neutral unity flag -- a light blue image of the Korean peninsula.

Host South Korea has taken to calling the Busan Games the "Unification Asiad" because North Korea is attending its first sporting event in the South after boycotting all previous competitions.

South Korea is hoping that the games will help overcome tensions from the Cold War and bridge the gap between the two Koreas.

Certainly, the South Koreans are enthusiatic in giving their Northern cousins a warm welcome. South Koreans thronged the streets, waving unification flags, to welcome the North Koreans when they arrived by boat.

This is also the first time ever that a North Korean passenger boat, carrying supporters of North Korean athletes, has entered South Korean waters since the end of the three-year Korean War in 1953.

The 360 North Korean musicians, journalists and sailors arrived to join a delegation of 318 athletes and team stuff.

Their team of 184 athletes are competing in 18 sports.

The country's main hopes lie in shooting, weightlifting and judo.

Afghanistan

For the first time in a decade, Afghans are engaging in sport in a major competition.

Under the previous Taliban government, sporting activities were all but suspended as athletes could not take part in international sporting events.

Now six years later, after the fall of the Taliban, closet athletes have a chance to compete... again.

Perhaps because of its recent turbulent history, Afghanistan's delegation includes -- besides its seven boxers -- an eight-member taekwondo team, eight wrestlers and one karate fighter.

The former Taliban regime banned women from sports altogether while males had to wear long trousers if they want to kick a ball.

Hence, all eyes are trained on its three-woman takwondo team.

The women are determined to do well.

One of the Afghan taekwondo team members, Roya, said: "The time that Taliban was ruling Afghanistan, it was forbidden to do taekwondo and so we practiced taekwondo somewhere else."

That meant spending much of the last five years training in neighbouring Iran.

However, the chances of the women winning any medals are slim as they are facing strong rivals from the Asian giants.

Instead, the country's best bet may lie on its boxing team.

On top of the various martial arts exponents, Afghanistan has also sent two cyclists and a soccer squad of 20 players as well as four other delegates.

To commemorate its return, the soccer team has suffered a crushing defeat of 10-0 by defending Asian Games champions Iran in its first game.

But that does not matter to a nation that had not played soccer in the Asian Games since 1954.

What's more important is that they are taking part in the Asian Games.

Plus the fact that the Afghan soccer squad still get to face Qatar on Tuesday and Lebanon the following Saturday in their other games.

East Timor

Likewise to East Timor, the world's youngest country, just the opportunity to participate in the games, even if under a temporary membership of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), is a triumph.

The country, which just gained its independence in from Indonesia in May, is nonetheless enthusiatic about participating in its first Asiad.

Its 15 athletes, as part of a 32-member delegation, are competing in compete in boxing, badminton, table-tennis, tennis, weightlifting, taekwondo, karate, cycling and track and field.

In an AFP report, the East Timorese Sport Association president Joao Carrascalao was quoted as saying that “...the Asian Games is, for us, the most important occasion for our athletes."

In 2000, East Timor atheletes had taken part in the Olympics as individuals, marching behind the Olympics flag. Only three of the four athletes who took part in the 2000 Olympics would compete in Busan, according to Carrascalao.

Busan will be East Timor's third international sports event after the Sydney Olympics and the Arafura regional Games in Darwin, Northern Australia.