Young spectators watch video screens in rapt attention during the opening ceremony of the 17th Asian Games in Incheon on Friday. (AP)

At precisely 8.51 pm local time, the clock stopped. The North Korean flag emerged from the tunnel, their athletes waving it rather hesitantly. The act is officially banned on the southern part of the Korean peninsula, so the reluctance on their part was understandable.

What followed was not what many had expected. The 60,000 South Koreans inside the Main Asiad Stadium cheered fervently for them, easily the loudest reception any team got after the hosts themselves. And with every step they took, the flag-waving got bolder. Perhaps, it was the only time that the North Koreans waving flag on southern soil was met with standing ovation.

The moment was both poignant and symbolic. The South and North are still officially at war because an armistice, rather than a peace treaty, was signed to end the Korean War in 1953. And Incheon played a leading role in that conflict because it was the site where thousands of pro-southern UN troops had pushed the North back.

The organisers stuck to Asian unity as an underlying theme instead of showboating their achievements. The serious seamlessly blended with the snazzy. As the organisers had maintained all this while, the ceremony was not used by the hosts as a platform to showcase Korea’s past and future.

There were no flying men and 3D effects that had wowed the world four years ago. The fish-eyed stadium here was an ostensibly smaller, more intimate setting compared to the grand open-air show put up by Guangzhou.

Incheon did not even attempt to match the stakes that had been raised high by China. Boy band Exo opened the evening with some foot-tapping numbers. JYJ sung to commemorate the opening while YouTube sensation Psy performed his megahit Gangnam Style to wrap up the show.

It would suffice to say that Psy stole the show. The music before was gentle, sober, and at times dull. But the moment the pop-sensation took the stage, it was loud, booming and entertaining. Spectators and athletes joined him in his signature horse-riding dance as the singer belted out an electrifying rendition of his hit number. Wearing a glittering black suit and backed by a team of glamorous dancers, the star brought the three-hour ceremony to a thumping finale, heralding the start of 15 days of competition for nearly 10,000 athletes. Even the athletes wanted a piece of Psy, crowding him once he descended from the stage, posing for selfies.

The Indian athletes trooped in after Iran with Sardar Singh leading out the smartly dressed contingent. The Indian men looked dapper in their black blazers with the women athletes dressed in blue sarees. The opening to the Games, that have so far lacked energy, has been a mixture of serious and fun.

From the pleasing cheers that greeted the arrival of DPRK to the theatrics of Psy, Incheon presented a no-frills ceremony that didn’t replicate the grandeur of the past ones, but was full of symbolism.