The Republic of Korea are one of the most decorated teams in history in the women’s competition at the Olympic Games, with two gold medals, at Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992, three silver medals and one bronze medal. In fact, in their 10 appearances, the Asian side has secured six medals.

Their first finish outside the podium was at Sydney 2000, when they finished fourth, as well as at London 2012. But in the past two editions, the Republic of Korea made some steps back, failing to compete at the highest level, as they finished 10th at Rio 2016, when they also missed the quarter-finals, and eighth at Tokyo 2020, when they were eliminated by Sweden in the quarter-finals, 30:39.

Since that moment, the Asian side still delivered good performances in continental competitions, but failed to get any rhythm going at the IHF Women’s World Championship, finishing 14th at Spain 2021 and 20th at Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023, some of their worst finishes in history.

A change of approach was delivered, while naming Kim Rasmussen and Henrik Signell as coaches, the first time in Korea’s history when the Asian side had foreign coaches, with Signell also leading the side at Paris 2024, after a successful performance at the AHF Asian Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament in August 2023.

It was not plain sailing for the Republic of Korea, which secured their 11th consecutive appearance at the Olympics, a fantastic performance, after four wins in a row in the competition hosted by Japan. In fact, Korea were close to losing the spot, making a fantastic comeback in the second half against their archrivals, to clinch a 25:24 win, the only result which would have seen them through to Paris 2024.

But how far can the Republic of Korea go at Paris 2024? Their draw was definitely not one which helped, as the Asian side faces five European opponents. Their matches against Denmark and Norway were classics at the Olympics, but the difference between the sides have been big in recent times, while Germany and Slovenia also bring some experience to the table.

Signell and his assistant, Jonas Larholm, know the other opponent well, as Signell was also the coach for Sweden women’s national team between 2016 and 2020, finishing seventh at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Yet with only one player plying her trade in Europe, Ryu Eun Hee, Korea have a big disadvantage in terms of experience at the highest level, which can prove costly in the end.

Republic of Korea

Coach: Henrik Signell

Key Players: Ryu Eun Hee (right back), Woo Bit Na (centre back), Shin Eun Joo (left wing)

Qualification for Paris 2024: AHF Asian Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament: Winners

Previous appearances: 1984: Silver medal, 1988: Champions, 1992: Champions, 1996: Silver medal, 2000: 4th, 2004: Silver medal, 2008: Bronze medal, 2012: 4th, 2016: 10th, 2020: 8th  

Group at Paris 2024: Group A: Norway, Germany, Slovenia, Sweden, Denmark, Republic of Korea