# South Korea men's national ice hockey team

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.
Several North American players playing for teams in South Korea were offered South Korean citizenship, thus allowing them to play at the Olympics. 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.

## 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 | Did not participate |
| 1982 Jaca | 8th in the Group C | 24th |
| 1983 Budapest | Did not participate | Did not participate |
| 1985 Megève, Chamonix and Saint-Gervais | Did not participate | 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 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021 Ljubljana | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 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
| 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
| Team | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA |
| Russia Olympic Team | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Admiral Vladivostok | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| HC Sparta Praha | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Mountfield HK | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| HC Dynamo Pardubice | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| HC Škoda Plzeň | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Motor České Budějovice | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Total | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 20 | 37 |