South Korea men's national ice hockey team

South Korea men's national ice hockey team
Hangul	대한민국 아이스하키 국가대표팀
Hanja	大韓民國 아이스하키 國家代表팀
Revised Romanization	Daehan Minguk Aiseuhaki Gukga Daepyo Tim
McCune–Reischauer	Taehan Min'guk Aisŭhak'i Kukka Taep'yo T'im

South Korea
Association	Korea Ice Hockey Association
Head coach	Kim Woo-jae
Assistants	Kim Dong-hwan; Park Woo-sang
Captain	Kim Sang-wook
Most games	Kim Ki-sung (145)
Top scorer	Kim Ki-sung (72)
Most points	Kim Ki-sung (142)
Team colors
IIHF code	KOR
Ranking
Current IIHF	22 1 (27 May 2024)
Highest IIHF	16 (2018)
Lowest IIHF	33 (2010)
First international
	Spain 7–1 South Korea; (Barcelona, Spain; 16 March 1979)
Biggest win
	South Korea 44–0 Hong Kong; (Perth, Australia; 14 March 1987)
Biggest defeat
	Latvia 27–0 South Korea; (Bled, Slovenia; 18 March 1993)
Olympics
Appearances	1 (first in 2018)
IIHF World Championships
Appearances	38 (first in 1979)
Best result	16th (2018)
Asian Winter Games
Appearances	8 (first in 1986)
Best result	Silver (2017); Bronze (1986, 1990, 2007, 2011)
International record (W–L–T)
	106–207–14

The South Korean national ice hockey team (Korean: 대한민국 아이스하키 국가대표팀) is the national men's ice hockey team of the Republic of Korea (South Korea). They are currently ranked 19th in the IIHF World Rankings and competed in the World Championship top division tournament. The team's most successful campaign thus far was a second-place finish in the 2017 Division I Group A tournament and thus qualifying for the top division in 2018. They competed in their first Winter Olympics in 2018 in Pyeongchang as the host nation.

History

South Korea first participated in the World Championship in 1979, playing in Pool C, the third level of the tournament. They did not return until 1982, again in Pool C, and became a regular participant in 1986. They remained at the Division I level, the second tier of the World Championship, from 2010 until 2017, when they earned a promotion to the 2018 World Championship.

Upon being named the host country for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, the South Korean team began efforts to steadily improve themselves in order to be competitive with the other teams expected at the tournament, led by the efforts of Korea Ice Hockey Association president Chung Mong-won.^[2]

Several North American players playing for teams in South Korea were offered South Korean citizenship, thus allowing them to play at the Olympics.^[3] This was done to help the team perform better in the lead-up to the Olympics, which proved successful: when awarded the Olympics in 2011, the South Korean team was ranked 31st in the IIHF World Ranking, while on the eve of the Olympics had moved up to 18th.^[4]

Tournament record

Olympic Games

2018 – 12th place

World Championship

Year	Finish	Rank
1979 Barcelona	7th in the Group C	25th
1981 Beijing	Did not participate
1982 Jaca	8th in the Group C	24th
1983 Budapest	Did not participate
1985 Megève, Chamonix and Saint-Gervais	Did not participate
1986 Jaca	9th in the Group C, Relegated	25th
1987 Perth	2nd in the Group D, Promoted	26th
1989 Sydney	7th in the Group C	23rd
1990 Budapest	9th in the Group C	25th
1991 Brøndby	8th in the Group C	24th
1992 Hull	6th in the Group C1	26th
1993 Bled	9th in the Group C	25th
1994 Barcelona	10th in the Group C	30th
1995 Johannesburg and Krugersdorp	13th in the Group C	33rd
1996 Kaunas and Elektrenai	5th in the Group D	33rd
1997 Canillo	2nd in the Group D, Promoted	30th
1998 Budapest, Székesfehérvár and Dunaújváros	7th in the Group C	31st
1999 Eindhoven and Tilburg	6th in the Group C	30th
2000 Beijing	5th in the Group C	29th
2001 Majadahonda	1st in Division II, Group A, Promoted	30th
2002 Székesfehérvár and Dunaújváros	6th in the Division II, Group A, Relegated	27th
2003 Seoul	1st in Division II, Group A, Promoted	29th
2004 Gdańsk	6th in the Division I, Group B, Relegated	27th
2005 Zagreb	3rd in the Division II, Group A	33rd
2006 Auckland	2nd in the Division II, Group B	31st
2007 Seoul	1st in the Division II, Group B, Promoted	30th
2008 Innsbruck	6th in the Division I, Group A, Relegated	28th
2009 Sofia	1st in the Division II, Group B, Promoted	29th
2010 Ljubljana	5th in the Division I, Group B	25th
2011 Budapest	3rd in the Division I, Group A	22nd
2012 Krynica	1st in the Division I, Group B, Promoted	23rd
2013 Budapest	5th in the Division I, Group A	21st
2014 Goyang	6th in the Division I, Group A, Relegated	22nd
2015 Eindhoven	1st in the Division I, Group B, Promoted	23rd
2016 Katowice	5th in the Division I, Group A	21st
2017 Kyiv	2nd in the Division I, Group A, Promoted	18th
2018 Copenhagen and Herning	8th in the Group B, Relegated	16th
2019 Astana	3rd in Division I, Group A	19th
2020 Ljubljana	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic^[5]
2021 Ljubljana	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic^[6]
2022 Ljubljana	4th in Division I, Group A	20th
2023 Nottingham	4th in Division I, Group A	20th
2024 Bolzano	6th in the Division I, Group A Relegated	26th

Asian Winter Games

1986 – 3rd place
1990 – 3rd place
1996 – 4th place
1999 – 4th place
2003 – 4th place
2007 – 3rd place
2011 – 3rd place
2017 – 2nd place
2025 –

All-time record against other nations

Last match update: 24 April 2023^[7]

Team	GP	W	T	L	GF	GA
Austria	7	1	0	6	16	37
Australia	14	9	3	2	84	55
Belarus	3	1	0	2	10	19
Belgium	7	4	0	3	27	24
Bulgaria	9	4	0	5	48	53
Canada	3	0	0	3	2	18
China	21	5	2	14	59	120
Chinese Taipei	2	2	0	0	46	2
Croatia	9	2	1	6	28	29
Czech Republic	1	0	0	1	1	2
Denmark	10	1	0	9	16	86
Estonia	3	1	0	2	7	24
Finland	3	0	0	3	4	17
France	4	0	0	4	9	49
Germany	2	0	0	2	4	10
Great Britain	8	3	0	5	23	42
Hong Kong	3	3	0	0	79	1
Hungary	21	5	1	15	57	122
Iceland	2	2	0	0	24	2
Israel	4	3	1	0	23	11
Italy	9	1	0	8	12	46
Japan	31	7	1	23	57	188
Kazakhstan	25	6	0	19	49	136
Latvia	3	0	0	3	2	38
Lithuania	7	2	1	4	22	24
Malaysia	1	1	0	0	14	1
Mexico	4	4	0	0	48	6
Mongolia	2	2	0	0	37	2
Netherlands	9	3	0	6	39	49
New Zealand	6	6	0	0	99	5
North Korea	12	5	1	6	40	64
Norway	6	0	0	6	6	31
Poland	12	4	0	8	29	44
Romania	10	5	0	5	34	51
Russia	1	0	0	1	1	8
Yugoslavia/ Serbia and Montenegro	8	2	0	6	14	67
Slovakia	1	0	0	1	1	2
Slovenia	10	1	0	9	16	53
South Africa	5	5	0	0	46	8
Spain	14	7	3	4	54	52
Sweden	1	0	0	1	1	5
Switzerland	1	0	0	1	0	8
Turkey	1	1	0	0	14	0
Ukraine	5	2	0	3	11	30
United States	1	0	0	1	1	13
Total	321	104	14	203	1214	1654

All-time record against other clubs

Last match update: 11 August 2017^[8]

Team	GP	W	L	GF	GA
Russia Olympic Team	2	0	2	7	9
Admiral Vladivostok	2	0	2	5	8
HC Sparta Praha	1	1	0	2	1
Mountfield HK	1	0	1	3	4
HC Dynamo Pardubice	1	0	1	1	4
HC Škoda Plzeň	1	0	1	1	2
Motor České Budějovice	1	0	1	1	9
Total	9	1	8	20	37

References

^ "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. 27 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
^ Podnieks, Andrew (4 February 2020). "Legends join IIHF Hall of Fame". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
^ Crouse, Karen; Berkman, Seth (23 February 2017). "South Korea, Next Olympics Host, Went Shopping in North America to Build Its Hockey Teams". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
^ Lerner, Matt (4 May 2017). "South Korea and China Chasing Hockey Dreams". The Diplomat. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
^ "IIHF cancels Division I tournaments". iihf.com. 17 March 2019.
^ "IIHF – IIHF Council announces more cancellations". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
^ "Ice Hockey in South Korea". National Teams of Ice Hockey. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
^ "South-Korea-Men-All-Time-Results.pdf" (PDF). National Teams of Ice Hockey. Retrieved 2 February 2018.

External links

[IIHF_Men's_World_Ranking-1] "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. 27 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.

[2] Podnieks, Andrew (4 February 2020). "Legends join IIHF Hall of Fame". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 4 February 2020.

[3] Crouse, Karen; Berkman, Seth (23 February 2017). "South Korea, Next Olympics Host, Went Shopping in North America to Build Its Hockey Teams". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 April 2017.

[4] Lerner, Matt (4 May 2017). "South Korea and China Chasing Hockey Dreams". The Diplomat. Retrieved 4 October 2018.

[5] "IIHF cancels Division I tournaments". iihf.com. 17 March 2019.

[6] "IIHF – IIHF Council announces more cancellations". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 18 November 2020.

[7] "Ice Hockey in South Korea". National Teams of Ice Hockey. Retrieved 28 April 2023.

[NTOIH-8] "South-Korea-Men-All-Time-Results.pdf" (PDF). National Teams of Ice Hockey. Retrieved 2 February 2018.

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v t e Men's national ice hockey teams
Africa	Algeria* Egypt^N Kenya* Morocco* South Africa Tunisia*
Americas	Argentina* Brazil* Canada Chile** Colombia* Haiti^N Jamaica* Mexico Puerto Rico* United States Venezuela^N
Asia and Oceania	Australia Bahrain China Chinese Taipei Hong Kong India Indonesia* Iran* Israel Japan Kazakhstan Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lebanon* Macau* Malaysia Mongolia New Zealand North Korea Oman* Philippines Qatar* Saudi Arabia^N Singapore South Korea Thailand Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan*
Europe	Andorra* Armenia* Azerbaijan* Austria Belarus† Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czechia Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Great Britain Greece* Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein* Lithuania Luxembourg Netherlands North Macedonia* Norway Poland Portugal* Romania Russia† Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine
Former teams	Basque Country Bohemia Catalonia Commonwealth of Independent States Czechoslovakia East Germany England Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Scotland Serbia and Montenegro Soviet Union West Germany Yugoslavia Team Europe Team North America
* IIHF associate members ** IIHF affiliate members † IIHF suspended members ^N Not an IIHF member