All eight countries whose National Olympic Committee is recognized by the East Asian Games Association and one country whose National Olympic Committee is recognized by the Oceania National Olympic Committees, would have participated had the games not been cancelled.
[1] 1 Associate member Taichung, Taiwan was selected to be the host city for the first East Asian Youth Games on October 24, 2014 during the 32nd East Asian Games Association Council Meeting in Beijing, China.
[1] The Taichung City Government originally planned to establish a committee for the Games in December 2014,[2] but this was postponed until June 26, 2015, when the 2019 East Asian Youth Games Organization Committee (2019年東亞青年運動會籌備委員會) was set up.
[3] This was to be the first time Taichung City had organised an international multi-sport event, as well as being the first East Asian Youth Games.
On July 31, 2018, Taichung was stripped of hosting rights after a vote by the East Asian Olympic Committee.