Team Republic of Korea - Profile

Highlights:

The Republic of Korea made its Summer Olympic debut at the 1948 Games in London. There the NOC entered athletes in seven sports, with two athletes, Han Su-An and Kim Sung-Jip, winning its first medals, both bronze, in boxing and weightlifting, respectively.

It took until the 1976 Games in Montreal for a Republic of Korea athlete to win gold. The first came in freestyle wrestling when Yang Jung-Mo took out the men's 62kg division. Yang's gold began what would become a fine tradition in wrestling for the NOC.

There have been 11 wrestling gold medallists from the Republic of Korea, seven in Greco-Roman and four in freestyle. Sim Kwon-Ho is the NOC's only double-gold medallist in wrestling, claiming gold in the Greco-Roman 48kg category in 1996 before stepping up a division to take the 54kg title in 2000.

The Republic of Korea has seen most success in archery, with 23 Olympic titles in the NOC's history. The most outstanding archer is Kim Soo-Nyung, the winner of four gold medals, as well as one silver and one bronze. Considered one of the best female archers of the modern era, Kim won three team gold medals [1988, 1992, 2000] while winning one individual crown in 1988. The Republic of Korea has won every women's team gold since the event was introduced in 1988 while the men have won five of eight gold medals on offer. At the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, archer Seo Hyang-Soon became the first Korean archer to win gold and the first female gold medallist from the NOC.

Judo has also been a source of success for the Republic of Korea. The NOC has 11 Olympic titles in the sport, with four athletes - Kim Jae-Bum, Kim Jae-Yup, Cho Min-Sun and Choi Min-Ho - winning one gold and one medal of another type.

Given Korea is the birthplace of taekwondo, it is a sport in which the NOC has taken great pride in its success. The Republic of Korea has 12 Olympic titles in the sport, five more than People's Republic of China, the second most successful NOC in the sport. Hwang Kyung-Sun is one of only six athletes to win two Olympic titles in the sport, and is the equal-most successful taekwondoka at the Olympic Games with two gold and one bronze medal. She won her medals at three Games between 2004 and 2012.

At the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, the Republic of Korea finished in eighth place on the overall medal table, claiming nine gold medals. The NOC was once again dominant in archery, with Korean archers completing a gold medal clean-sweep. Park Inbee was crowned champion in women's golf, with the sport returning to the Olympic programme for the first time in over 100 years.

Additional Information: Website
https://www.sports.or.kr

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/KoreaOlympic

Anthem Title: Aegukga [Patriotic Song]

Anthem Composer: Lyrics by Yun Chi-Ho and An Chang-Ho, music by Ahn Eak-Tai

Anthem Inducted: 1948

Official NOC Name: Korean Sport and Olympic Committee

Founding Date: 1946

IOC Recognition Date: 1947

Delegation President: Lee Kee-Heung

Delegation Secretary General: Cho Yong-man

IOC Members: Ryu Seung-Min [entry in the IOC: 2016], Kee Heung Lee [entry in the IOC: 2019]

First OG/PG Appearance: 1948

Number OG/PG Appearances: 18 [Tokyo 2020 included]

Summary: