Fireworks explode during the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon Asiad Main Stadium in Incheon on Friday. Photo: CFP

The 17th Asian Games opened in a multi-colored blaze of fireworks and carefully crafted K-Pop routines on Friday, as athletes from the world's most populous region came together in pursuit of gold and glory in South Korea.

An array of Olympians and regional sports stars will compete over 15 days of competition in Incheon where South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Olympic chief Thomas Bach were among the powerful figures watching a vivid opening ceremony.

Athletes dressed in colorful national garb, sharp suits and comfortable tracksuits waved to a crowd of 60,000, who offered enthusiastic welcomes to delegations from 45 countries and regions including the South's belligerent neighbor, North Korea.

South Korean culture, known as the "Korean Wave" or Hallyu, has swept through Asia in recent years generating billions of dollars in revenue from drama and pop music and Friday's ceremony drew heavily on its influence.

Actress and model Lee Young-ae, the face of countless commercials across the region, lit the Asian Games cauldron and "Gangnam Style" singer Psy delivered a rousing finale.

The ceremony, dubbed "Dream of 4.5 billion people, One Asia," also featured ­traditional Korean ­performances of song, dance and poetry as athletes stood shoulder to shoulder behind the flags of 45 countries and regions at the Incheon Asian Main Stadium.

From weightlifting to wushu, rowing to rugby sevens and swimming to sepaktakraw, the Games will showcase elite Asian talent in 36 sports.

Much of the attention will be focused on the pool where Olympic champions Sun Yang of China and South Korea's homegrown hero Park Tae-hwan will meet in a series of freestyle duels.

China has topped the medals table at the last eight Asian Games and is expected to do so again, while the hosts' target is finishing second, above fierce rivals Japan, for the fifth straight Asiad.

China's vast delegation includes badminton great Lin Dan and London Olympic gold medalist Ye Shiwen while ­Japan expects great things from a swim team that took seven golds at the recent Pan Pacific Championships.

Olympic champions Yang Hak-seon and Lee Yong-dae will spearhead South Korea's campaign for 90 golds on home soil in a Games that will also put Korea's financial muscle and logistical capabilities to the test once again.

After hosting the Asian Games in 1986 and 2002, and the Olympic Games in 1988, South Korea will stage the Winter Olympic Games for the first time in Pyeongchang in four years' time.

A successful Games would go a long way to allaying any concerns that South Korea will struggle to be ready.

While relations remain strained between Tokyo and Pyongyang, North Korean and Japanese athletes showed no signs of tension as they filed into the stadium one after another, the Korean alphabet putting the delegations beside each other.