Gwak reached the final of the World Cup in Jeju, where he narrowly won by decision and yuko in the quarter-final and semi-final.

Gwak played ippon judo en route to the final of his first continental tournament, but lost by shido to Japan's Shohei Shimowada, settling for silver.

Gwak's second outing to Tokyo was again stunted in his first fight, losing to two-time world silver medalist Daiki Nishiyama.

Gwak won his second IJF circuit title at the Grand Prix in Jeju, causing an upset by defeating legend Ilias Iliadis by ippon with uchi mata.

[5] Gwak competed in his first Paris Grand Slam and finished fifth, losing to future rival Mashu Baker by ippon and waza-ari.

Gwak lost in the quarter-final to Mongolia's Otgonbataar Lkhagvasuren by waza-ari, but won in the repechage against Kazakhstan's Timur Bolat.

Gwak finished fifth in his second outing to the Grand Prix in Düsseldorf, losing to rival Nishiyama in the bronze medal contest by waza-ari.

He defeated long time rival Nishiyama in the final, using his signature skill seoi nage for ippon.

He defeated Russia's Kirill Denisov in the final by waza-ari, becoming one of South Korea's two world champions in the tournament.

Gwak won his third consecutive Grand Prix in Jeju, narrowly beating the experienced Magomed Magomedov and Iliadis by shido.

Gwak continued his medal-less streak in Düsseldorf when he lost to Sweden's Marcus Nyman in the semi-final by a single yuko.

He was set to face fellow countryman Kim Jae-yun, however did not fight due to injury, leaving him to finish fifth place.

"I feel a little pressure about not winning the gold medal and not showing all of my skills, but I won't forget the basics and my original goal as an athlete."