The South Korean national ice hockey team (; recognized as Korea by IIHF) is the national men's ice hockey team of the Republic of Korea (South Korea). They are currently ranked 23rd in the IIHF World Ranking and 3rd in the Asian Ranking. South Korea compete in the World Championship Division I Group B. 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. However, South Korea gradually phased out the use of naturalized players in the post-COVID-19 era.
The South Korean team is one of the powerhouses of Asian ice hockey. It is a regular participant in the Asian Winter Games, with its best result being a silver medal in 2017. In November 2024, South Korea took part in the inaugural IIHF Asia Championship and finished in third place.
Tournament record
Olympic Games 2018 – 12th place
World Championship Year Finish Rank 1979 Barcelona 7th in the Group C 25th 1981 BeijingDid not participate 1982 Jaca 8th in the Group C 24th 1983 BudapestDid not participate 1985 Megève, Chamonix and Saint-GervaisDid 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 LjubljanaCancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 LjubljanaCancelled 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 2025 Tallinn 2nd in Division I, Group B 24th 2026 Shenzhen 4th in Division I, Group B 26th
Asian Winter Games YearHostResultMWDLGFGAGD 1986 3 - - - - - - - 1990 3 - - - - - - - 1996 4 - - - - - - - 1999 4 - - - - - - - 2003 4 - - - - - - - 2007 3 - - - - - - - 2011 3 - - - - - - - 2017 2 - - - - - - - 2025 3 8 6 1 1 64 15 +49Total - 9/9 40 18 1 21 220 206 +14 Key: OT = W / SO = D / Excluded Goals in SO
2025: JPN 3–3 KOR supposed
Asia Championship 2025 – 3rd place 2026 – 2nd place
All-time record against other nations Last match update: 14 February 2025
Team GP W T L GF GA 14 9 3 2 84 55 7 1 0 6 16 37 3 1 0 2 10 19 7 4 0 3 27 24 9 4 0 5 48 53 3 0 0 3 2 18 24 7 2 15 71 129 3 3 0 0 60 3 9 2 1 6 28 29 1 0 0 1 1 2 10 1 0 9 16 86 4 2 0 2 11 26 3 0 0 3 4 17 4 0 0 4 9 49 2 0 0 2 4 10 9 3 0 6 23 46 3 3 0 0 79 1 22 5 1 16 59 128 2 2 0 0 24 2 4 3 1 0 23 11 14 1 0 13 20 73 37 9 1 27 75 207 27 7 0 20 54 138 1 1 0 0 20 0 3 0 0 3 2 38 8 3 1 4 24 25 1 1 0 0 14 1 4 4 0 0 48 6 2 2 0 0 37 2 9 3 0 6 39 49 6 6 0 0 99 5 12 5 1 6 40 64 6 0 0 6 6 31 15 5 0 10 32 59 12 6 0 6 41 56 1 0 0 1 1 8/ 8 2 0 6 14 67 1 0 0 1 1 2 11 2 0 9 20 55 5 5 0 0 46 8 14 7 3 4 54 52 1 0 0 1 1 5 1 0 0 1 0 8 1 1 0 0 10 0 1 1 0 0 14 0 7 2 0 5 14 38 1 0 0 1 1 13 Total 352 117 14 221 1 326 1 756
All-time record against other clubs Last match update: 11 August 2017 Team GP W T L GF GA 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
See also South Korea men's national junior ice hockey team South Korea men's national under-18 ice hockey team South Korea women's national ice hockey team
References
External links
IIHF profile National Teams of Ice Hockey profile