Baseball was brought to Korea by American missionaries in 1905 and at one point was the most popular sport in the country. However, this has been surpassed by football (soccer) since the South Korean national team reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2002. Nevertheless, baseball still retains a strong following, with many Korean players becoming famous MLB players in the United States, and the Korean national baseball team is regarded as one of the strongest in the world.
Badminton, table tennis and bowling are also popular and facilities for the public are widely available in cities. Korean martial arts such as taekwondo are also popular. Golf also has a strong following, with membership fees for Korea's top golf clubs being more expensive than those in neighbouring Japan or even the United States. Also, many of the world's top female golfers originate from Korea or are of Korean descent.
As for winter sports, speed skating (especially short track) and figure skating are extremely popular due to the repeated success of Korea in the Winter Olympics.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about South Korea
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in South Korea - updated Apr 2024
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South Korea Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
