<P> Taekwondo is the most practiced martial in the country and very popular outside of Korea . </P> <P> Golf is very popular in South Korea . It is often thought that this is linked to the fact that golf is considered a status symbol . Membership in golf clubs in South Korea is considerably more expensive than in Japan or the US . South Korea is especially strong in women's golf; 47 Koreans play on the world's leading women's tour, the LPGA tour in the (United States). The best - known Korean golfer is Pak Se - ri . </P> <P> South Korea women's national handball team is one of two non-European countries to have won the World Championship and the only one to have captured Olympic gold . </P> <P> Ice skating is also a very popular sport which sees kids even as young as 5 years old starting to compete and getting private coaching on a daily basis . National leadership deliberately focused on short - track speed skating as an area of focus to do well in the Olympics and thus encouraged a culture of skating . The sport was first introduced to the country in 1982 by a Japanese university team who competed in an exhibition event, and the South Korean national team was established three years later, in time for the 1986 Asian Winter Games . By the first half of the 1990s they had become a major power in the sport, with Kim Ki - hoon becoming the country's first Winter Olympic gold medallist at the 1992 Winter Games in the men's 1000 metres, and the team winning five golds and a silver at the 1994 Winter Olympics . </P>

What is the national sport of south korea