South Korea at the Olympics


The Republic of Korea first participated at the Olympic Games in 1948, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except for 1980 which they boycotted. South Korea has also participated in every Winter Olympic Games since 1948, except for the 1952 games.

History

The first Korean athletes to win medals did so at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, when Sohn Kee-chung and Nam Sung-yong won gold and bronze respectively in the men's marathon. However, as Korea was under Japanese rule at that time, and, since both athletes were members of the Japanese team, the IOC credits both medals to Japan.
South Korea won its first medals as an independent nation at its first appearance in 1948, and won its first gold medal in 1976. South Korean athletes have won a total of 267 medals at the Summer Games, with the most gold medals won in archery, and 70 medals at the Winter Games, a majority in short track speed skating. The nation has won more medals in this winter sport than any other nation since it was introduced to the Olympic program in 1992.
The National Olympic Committee for Korea is the Korean Olympic Committee, and was founded in 1946 and recognized in 1947.
During the 1998-2007 Sunshine Policy era, South Korea and North Korea symbolically marched as one team at the opening ceremonies of the 2000, 2004 and 2006 Olympics, but competed separately.

Hosted Games

The Republic of Korea has hosted the Games on two occasions:

Unsuccessful bids

Medal tables

Medals by Summer Games

Medals by Winter Games

Medals by summer sport

Medals by winter sport

Most successful Olympians

AthleteSportTypeOlympicsGoldSilverBronzeTotal
Jin Jong-ohSummer2004, 2008, 2012, 20164206
Kim Soo-NyungSummer1988, 1992, 20004116
Chun Lee-KyungWinter1992, 1994, 19984015
Park Sung-hyunSummer2004, 20083104
Ahn Hyun-SooWinter2002, 20063014
Jin Sun-YuWinter20063003
Yun Mi-JinSummer2000, 20043003
Kim Ki-HoonWinter1992, 19943003

Participated event by competition

Summer Olympics

On November 2, 2018, officials from both North and South Korea announced that their countries would participate at the 2020 Summer Olympics, held in Tokyo, Japan, as a unified Korean team.