Sport in South Korea

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South Korea has traditional sports of its own, as well as sports from different cultures and countries.

Sports originating from Korea

Taekkyon uses hands and feet as well as any part of the body; though only open feet and open hands are allowed during competitions. The motions are smoother and more curvilinear than in Taekwondo[3]
. Although both disciplines start with the sound "tae" in English, there is no relationship.

Although there is much controversy regarding the historical origins of many martial disciplines in South Korea, there is little question that, Koreanized or traditional in origin, Korean martial arts and sports have enjoyed considerable success. Styles such as Hapkido, Kuk Sool, Hwarangdo, Han Moo Do, Yudo, Kumdo, Goog-sool, and many others arose quickly out of an independent Korea and have spread to countries around the world. Although they are not as popular as Taekwondo, they each uniquely represent the Korean martial spirit which dates back to antiquity. Unlike Japanese martial arts which often use "-do" at a name's end (meaning "way"), traditional Korean martial arts were called "Mu Sool" or "Mu Yea". This could lead to some confusion since although the "do" in Taekwondo and Hapkido means "way" (as in Karate-do and Aikido), the historical meaning in Hwarangdo is different from the modern usage (also "way" like the others). When that martial art was invented in the 1960s, the name was borrowed from an ancient group (do) consisting mainly of the children of the gentry class (yangban) for learning military tactics, leadership, and fighting skills.

Popular sports

Football and baseball have traditionally been regarded as the most popular sports in Korea.[2] A 2021 poll showed that a plurality of 25% of South Korean sports fans identified football as their favorite sport, with baseball ranked 2nd at 18.8% of respondents. However, the polling did not indicate the extent to which respondents follow both sports.[3]

Baseball

Incheon Munhak Baseball Stadium
Main article: Baseball in South Korea

Baseball was introduced in 1905 by American missionaries. The American missionaries' goal was to use Baseball to spread muscular Christianity. Professional baseball league, KBO League started in 1982 with six teams, now ten teams. Korea won the Gold Medal in baseball at the 2008 Olympic Games. Korea is also a regular participant in the World Baseball Classic, and runner-up in 2009 and 3th in 2006. Korea is considered one of the best baseball countries in international competition. Several Korean players have gone on to play in Major League Baseball. The domestic KBO League consistently draws 8 million total fans per year, averaging approximately 11,500 spectators per game, both highest among professional spectator sports in South Korea.[4] There is also an active baseball cheering culture in South Korea, with each team having its own method of cheering.[5]

Association football

K-League Winner, Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Main article: Football in South Korea

In the early 1900s, football became an integral piece of Korean nationalism. It also became a symbol for the rivalry between Pyongyang and Gyungsung (Seoul) at the time. The people of Pyungyang used it to demonstrate their modernity and to resist the centralizing power of Gyungsung.[6]

The

Korea Republic national team (as it is known) has qualified for every World Cup since Mexico 1986, and has broken out of the group stage thrice: first in 2002, then in 2010, when it was defeated by eventual semi-finalist Uruguay in the Round of 16, and in 2022, where it was defeated by eventual quarter-finalist Brazil. At the 2012 Summer Olympics
, South Korea won the Bronze Medal for football.

South Korea, which competes internationally under the name of "Korea Republic", has qualified for eleven FIFA World Cups including the most recent 2022 tournament (Asian record), and co-hosted the 2002 World Cup, finishing in 4th place. Also in 2010, the country's under-17 women's team won the

K-League
is the oldest domestic professional football league in Asia. A huge number of tiny amateur football gatherings are active and immensely popular.

Rivalry

Korea has rival relationships with various countries. As for soccer, North Korea, Japan, and Iran are South Korea's rivals. Since South Korea is a divided country, soccer matches against North Korea receive a lot of public attention. The same goes for the game against Japan. Iran is consistently strong against South Korea.[8]

In 2022 nearly one in four South Koreans supported

Tottenham Hotspur due to the presence of captain Son Heung-min.[9]

Ice skating

Ice skating is also a very popular sport which sees kids as young as five years old starting to compete and getting private coaching on a daily basis. National leadership deliberately focused on short-track speed skating as an area of focus to do well in the Olympics and thus encouraged a culture of skating.

men's 1000 metres, and the team winning five golds and a silver at the 1994 Winter Olympics.[11]

Archery

South Korea has dominated archery at the international level, having the most medals in the Olympic Games of any country in the world as well as consistently strong performances in other international competitions.[12]

Esports

Korean e-Sports Association, an arm of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, was founded in 2000 to promote and regulate esports in the country.[13]

Basketball

Another sport gaining popularity in South Korea is

Ha Seung-Jin, who played there from 2004 to 2006. Basketball was the most popular sport in South Korea in the 1990s, along with football but its popularity has declined since the 2000s. In a 2022 ESPN story on Lee Hyun-jung, at the time starring in NCAA Division I basketball at Davidson College, a writer for Korean basketball magazine Jumpball commented, "In terms of popularity in Korea, if baseball and soccer are like BTS, then basketball is like '90s hair metal."[14]

Volleyball

Volleyball is very popular in South Korea with the V-League being a professional league with men's and women's teams.

Fencing

In recent years, South Korea has performed well in fencing, winning many medals from recent Olympic Games and World Championships.[15]

Korean martial arts

Main article: Korean martial arts

Taekwondo is the most practiced martial art in the country and is very popular outside of South Korea.

Field Hockey

Field Hockey is one of the sports where South Korea have achieved significant success on the continental level. There achievements include

  • Asian Games (Men's) :- South Korea has had a significant record in Asian Games, having finished 8 times on the podium of which they won the Gold Medal on 4 occasions.
  • Asian Games (Women's) :- Just like in Men's Competition,South Korea have excelled in the women's tournament having won 5 Gold medals and 4 Silver medals.
  • Asia Cup(Men's) :- South Korea are the best team in Asia Cup having won the competition 5 times and achieving the podium 9 times in total.
  • Asia Cup(Women's) :- Just like in Men's Competition, South Korea are the best team in Asia Cup having won the competition 3 times and achieving the podium 9 times in total.
  • Asian Champions Trophy(Men's) :- South Korea have won the Asian Champions Trophy once in 2021 and finished fourth twice.
  • Asian Champions Trophy(Women's) :- South Korea have won the Asian Champions Trophy thrice and finished on the podium 4 times in total and thus are the most successful team.

Lacrosse

The South Korea national lacrosse team has qualified for the World Lacrosse Championship five consecutive times (2002 to 2018).

South Korea has sent national teams to the Under-19 World Lacrosse Championships.[16]

Golf

Golf is very popular in South Korea. It is often thought that this is linked to the fact that golf is considered a status symbol.[4] Membership in golf clubs in South Korea is considerably more expensive than in Japan or the US.

Yang Yong-eun won the 2009 PGA Championship, the first Asian player to win a men's major tournament. K. J. Choi won eight PGA Tour events, including the 2011 Players Championship, and also claimed two top 5s at the Masters Tournament. Yang and Choi were selected for the Presidents Cup international team multiple times.

South Korea is especially strong in women's golf; 47 Koreans play on the world's leading women's tour, the

LPGA Tour. Notable players include Pak Se-ri, who won five major tournaments from 1998 to 2006 and 25 LPGA Tour events; Inbee Park, who has won seven major tournaments since 2008 and 21 LPGA Tour events; and Jiyai Shin, Ryu So-yeon, Chun In-gee, Park Sung-hyun and Ko Jin-young
, who have won two major tournaments each.

The two professional tours are the Korean Tour for men and the LPGA of Korea Tour for women.

Handball

The South Korea women's national handball team is one of two non-European countries to have won the World Championship and the only one to have captured Olympic gold.

Rugby union

final qualifying tournament
, but was unable to proceed past first-round group play in the final qualifier.

Kabaddi

Pro Kabaddi
league in India.

Korean captain Jang Kun Lee is the most famous international player in the Pro Kabaddi league in India and is currently playing for the Bengal Warriors.

In the

2018 Dubai Kabaddi Masters as being among the top four Kabaddi playing nations in the world. As of 2022 Jang Kun Lee's younger brother is playing in Indian pro kabbadi league.[17]

Cricket

People's Republic of China. Cricket is mostly played by expats and a league only exists in Seoul and the surrounding suburbs; the side for the Asian Games, which could only draw from South Korean citizens, consisted partially of converted baseball players.[18]

Table tennis

Table tennis is popular in South Korea.[5] There are minor leagues in many universities.

Motorsport

South Korea hosted the annual

Yeongam from 2010 until 2013. However, South Korea has yet to have a driver
on the grid.

On 30 November 2018, Formula E CEO, Alejandro Agag signed an agreement with Moon Jae-sik, chairman of JSM Holdings.[19] South Korea was given the right to hold the Seoul ePrix from 2020 to 2025. It will be first ePrix in South Korea and third Asian country hosting after Hong Kong and China (Beijing and Sanya).[20]

Ice hockey

Anyang Halla hockey club, which became the first non-Japanese club to win the championship title for Asia League Ice Hockey. South Korea has four teams participating in the Asia League Ice Hockey
championship.

Other sports

Hiking on Bukhansan (1972)

Popular throughout Asia, Badminton is played by many Koreans. Badminton nets can be found in many outdoor recreation parks. Korean players often reach the finals in regional and world championships.[6] Bowling is a popular sport in South Korea, with many local leagues. Computerized systems are commonplace.[7]

Hiking on Korea's many mountains is very popular, particularly among older generations. Hiking is a massive industry for clothing companies and for tourism. Hence hiking trails in South Korea have good infrastructure.

Jeju island
.

Fishing is a popular activity to do in streams, rivers, and the oceans. There are arranged fishing tours.[8]

Korea's alpine skiing slopes were made known during the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. Snowboarding was not allowed in most resorts until recently.[when?]

Major sport events

Summer Olympics

Fireworks at the closing ceremonies of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul

The 1988 Summer Olympics were celebrated in Seoul from September 17 to October 2, 1988. They were the second Summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia, last hosted in Tokyo in 1964.

At the Seoul Games, 160 nations were represented by 8391 athletes: 6197 men and 2194 women. 237 events were held. 27221 volunteers helped to prepare the Olympics. 11331 media (4978

broadcasters) showed the Games all over the world.[9]

These were the last Olympic Games for two of the world's "dominating" sport powers, Soviet Union and East Germany, as both ceased to exist by the next Olympic Games.

North Korea, still officially at war with South Korea, and its allies, Albania, Cuba, Madagascar and Seychelles boycotted the games. For differing reasons, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, and Albania (who declared an Olympic-record fourth consecutive boycott) did not participate in the Games. However, the much larger boycotts seen in the previous three Summer Olympics were avoided, resulting in the largest ever number of participating nations to that date.

Sports in North Korea
.)

South Korea has the distinction amongst Asian countries of collecting more Winter Olympics medals with 45 medals: 23 gold, 14 silver, and 8 bronze. South Korea ranked second in the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics medal table with ten gold medals. But, if they lost the title they followed up with a silver medal.

The

Lillehammer 1994
the Winter Olympics returned to a mountain resort.

FIFA World Cup

2018 World Cup
match

The 2002 FIFA World Cup was held in Korea and Japan with extreme success. More than 10 million Koreans came to the streets to support their team in the semifinals against Germany.

The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0 in the final. Turkey beat South Korea 3–2 in the third place match.

Korea professional sports

International Championship Host

Olympic Games
Youth Olympic Games
FIFA World Cup

References

  1. ^ Southwick, Ronald A. (1998). "A Brief History of Taekwondo". Michigan State University. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  2. ^ "Top 10 most popular sports in South Korea as of May 2017". Retrieved 2018-12-05.
  3. ^ "[여론조사] 손흥민 유재석 4년 연속 '1위 미소' 순". .dailysportshankook.co.kr. 2021-11-19. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  4. ^ "프로스포츠 운영 현황 지표". EBN. 2015-01-01. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
  5. ^ 허, 남설 (2015-03-29). "한국 야구 팬들의 열정 넘치는 응원 현장". Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-11-20.
  6. ISBN 9780197520956
    .
  7. ^ "Men's National Team Fixtures & Results Korea".
  8. ISBN 9788997653447
    .
  9. ^ Eccleshare, Charlie (2022-07-18). "Son-mania in South Korea: Putting Tottenham on the map in East Asia". The Athletic. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
  10. ^ Kang, Jay Caspian (1 February 2018). "Why Koreans Are So Good at Speedskating". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  11. NYTimes.com
    . Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  12. ^ "South Korean fencers prove dominance in Asian Games". The Korea Times. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  13. ^ "History of Korea e-Sports Association 1999–2004" (in Korean). KeSPA. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  14. ^ Lee, Joon (March 9, 2022). "'I think I can take that spot': Davidson's Hyunjung Lee wants to make history in the NBA". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  15. ^ "Dominance, Thy Name is South Korean Archery". The Olympians. 17 June 2016. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  16. ^ Record 23 lacrosse teams to play at Men's Under-21 World Championship Ali Iveson (Inside the Games), 30 May 2021. Accessed 9 June 2021.
  17. ^ http://www.2016kabaddiworldcup.com/teams/13-republic-of-korea-teamprofile.html
  18. ^ "Baseball comes to the rescue for South Korean cricket at Asian Games". The National (United Arab Emirates). 2014-09-27. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  19. Chosun Ilbo
    . November 30, 2018. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  20. ^ Kalinauckas, Alex (November 30, 2018). "Formula E to expand to Korea in season six". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  • ^ "Kite Flying as a Sport". Britannica Student Encyclopedia (Online ed.). 2005.
  • ^ "Sport". Retrieved July 23, 2005.
  • ^ "Korea: Education, Recreation, and Welfare". Britannica Student Encyclopedia (Online ed.). 2005.
  • ^ "Traditional Sports and Games". Retrieved July 23, 2005.
  • ISBN 978-89-951216-2-7
    .
  • ^ "Martial art: Taekwondo". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). 2005.
  • ^ "Seoul 1988". www.olympic.org. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
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