Sport in South Korea
[1] This may be a way to help legitimize the sport's connection to the traditional practice called Taekkyon, which originated in Korea during the Goguryeo period in the 4th century[2].
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.
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.
[8] In 2022 nearly one in four South Koreans supported English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur due to the presence of captain Son Heung-min.
[9] Ssireum wrestling is enlisted on UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists and one of popular sport in South Korea.
Ssireum is originated in agricultural society of Korea to celebrate Dano, Chuseok and Seolnal.
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.
Esports have found a strong home in South Korea, StarCraft professional competition being the largest example of these.
The 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] Volleyball is very popular in South Korea with the V-League being a professional league with men's and women's teams.
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.
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 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.
In the two most recent Asia Rugby Championships (2022 and 2023), South Korea has finished both times as the runner-up.
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 2016 Kabaddi World cup, Korea finished in 3rd place in the tournament, as they lost to Iran in the semi-finals.
As of 2022 Jang Kun Lee's younger brother is playing in Indian pro kabbadi league.
[16] Cricket is not that common, but South Korea did enter a national team during the 2014 Asian Games which saw them beat the 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.
South Korea hosted the annual Formula One Korean Grand Prix in Yeongam from 2010 until 2013.
On 30 November 2018, Formula E CEO, Alejandro Agag signed an agreement with Moon Jae-sik, chairman of JSM Holdings.
It will be first ePrix in South Korea and third Asian country hosting after Hong Kong and China (Beijing and Sanya).
South Korea has four teams participating in the Asia League Ice Hockey championship.
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.
After a series of large cities (Nagano to Sochi), for the first time since Lillehammer 1994 the Winter Olympics returned to a mountain resort.
