Republic of Korea

Highlights

Republic of Korea first appeared in their own right at the London 1948 Olympic Games.

Weightlifter KIM Sung Jip took bronze in the middleweight division, their first medal under Korean colours.

Korea have achieved success in archery, boxing, wrestling, judo and the traditional Korean sport of taekwondo.

Wrestler YANG Jung Mo was the first to win gold in the colours of the Republic of Korea. He won the freestyle featherweight at the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games.

SEO Hyang-Soon became the first Korean woman to win Olympic gold when she triumphed in the individual archery competition at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games.

Archer KIM Soo-Nyung won individual and team gold at the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games. In a career that spanned the 1988, 1992 and 2000 Games, she collected four gold, a silver and a bronze.

The Korean women have won every archery team competition since it was introduced in 1988.

The men's victory in Beijing was their third in a row. AHN Byung-Keun (lightweight) and HA Hyeong-Ju (half heavyweight) were the first Korean judoka to succeed in Los Angeles 1984.

CHO Min-Sun is Korea's most successful female judoka. She won middleweight gold in Atlanta in 1996 and added a bronze at Sydney 2000. Since taekwondo was introduced to the Olympic programme in 2000,

Koreans have won every gold medal in men's heavyweight and the women's featherweight divisions.

Marathon runner SOHN Kee Chung won the gold medal at the Berlin 1936 Olympic Games but he was forced to compete in the colours of Japan, which occupied Korea at the time.

He was listed in official results as Kitei SON. He carried Korea's flag at the Olympic Games in London in 1948, and at the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games, he was the popular choice to carry the Olympic flame into the stadium at the Opening Ceremony.

Anthem: Title

Aegukka (Patriotic Hymn)

Anthem: Year of Induction

1948

Anthem: Composer

Music AHN Eak-tai.

Official NOC name

Korea

IOC recognition date

1947

NOC President's name

Mr PARK Yong-Sung

NOC General Secretary's name

Mr CHOI Jong-Jun

IOC Member's Name

Mr LEE Kun Hee, Mr MOON Dae Sung

Year of first appearance in an Olympic Games

1948

Number of appearances in Olympic Games

16, including London 2012

Summary of Olympic Games Appearances