In the first edition of the IHF Men's Youth World Championship, the Republic of Korea secured the silver medal after a painful loss against Serbia and Montenegro in the final played in Qatar, 23:39.

Since then, the Republic of Korea have played in five different editions of the world handball flagship competition at this age category, but have never made the top 10 again, with their best finishes coming in 2007 and 2011, the 11th place.

After a six-year hiatus, the Republic of Korea are back at the IHF Men's Youth World Championship after a superb performance at the 2022 AHF Asian Men's Youth Handball Championship, where they won six games out of six to secure their first title since 2014.

A mix of strong defence, underlined by the wins against Japan in the semi-final, 23:21, and in the final against the Islamic Republic of Iran, 25:22, and some excellent fast breaks, was the main reason for the Republic of Korea's win, with the same recipe being expected to be applied at Croatia 2023.

Whether that defence will manage to deliver the same performances in the first three games of the preliminary round in the competition is still to be seen, but the Republic of Korea will be underdogs against reigning European champions Spain when the two continental champions clash early in the competition.

The Asian side will be favourites against Bahrain, whom they won against at the 2022 AHF Asian Men's Youth Handball Championship in the preliminary round, 39:22, while the do-or-die game for a place in the main round will be the clash against Brazil.

Key players: Mingi Son (right wing), Geonyung Lee (right back), Ho Lim (centre back)
Qualification for Croatia 2023: 2022 AHF Asian Men's Youth Handball Championship – 1st
History in the tournament: 2005: 2nd, 2007: 11th, 2011: 11th 2013: 21st, 2015: 13th, 2017: 12th
Group at Croatia 2023: Group D (Spain, Republic of Korea, Brazil, Bahrain)