Analysis: Are the Korean men now better than the women?

The recurve results at the second stage of this year’s Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit in Shanghai were unequivocal: every single gold medal awarded would be flown back to Korea. 

Not really a surprise, you say? Maybe not. But never, in the five decade history of Korean recurve archery, has the Korean archery federation fielded men’s and women’s teams more decorated at the very highest level – between them, they have fifteen Olympic gold medals.

Of course, in Shanghai, the ‘fourth’ and least decorated member of the team, Lee Gahyun, ended up on top of a women’s individual final four that featured two of her teammates (Lim Sihyeon and Kang Chaeyoung) – although she wasn’t allowed to be part of the recurve team despite finishing second in the ranking round.

Perhaps we’re just lucky they all sat out the first stage in Central Florida and let some other squads get a look at the podium. We’re used to dominance from the men and women in white, but this was crushing. (It’s also a remarkable upgrade from the results in Shanghai last year.)

But at team level, perhaps there has been a more subtle shift. Once it was the Korean women’s team – whoever they were – that always seemed like the dominant fortress, the hardest task to get past.

In 2025, it is now the men’s team that are the flagship of the Korean recurve fleet. 

In Shanghai this year, the men were only mildly troubled by the USA in the semifinal and thumped France 6-0 in the gold medal match – a rerun of Paris.

The women, by contrast, were forced to a shoot-off against Türkiye and were matched in two sets by China in the final – although as we have seen before, the Chinese team’s lack of consistency let them down. (We should probably mention Deepika Kumari‘s performance to snatch bronze from Kang Chaeyoung as well). 

Of course, this is just one competition. But it aligns very strongly with the last time we saw the men’s team in action on that much bigger stage in Paris. There, the trio breezed through to gold dropping just two points overall and delivering their speciality of the last three Games – a superlative gold medal match which slammed the door emphatically on their opponents. 

I wrote before about the Korean women’s narrow escape in Paris, with the  immense added pressure of trying to achieve the milestone: ten team medals in a row. From their first meeting with the press onwards, you could see the fear and tension on their faces, while the men's team looked like they were having the time of their lives.

On finals day in Paris, the women’s team looked remarkably ordinary, and all their opponents came close, at points, to ending the legendary run. (Of course, the teams facing them were also dealing with their own pressures and fears in the Parisian heat.) All of this followed a string of so-so results and defeats in the season building up to Paris, while the men’s team just kept on winning.

(Just imagine being part of the first Korean women’s team to come home with a silver medal from an Olympic Games. It might be better to leave with nothing at all.)

Of course, the Korean national federation will be fully aware of what happened in Paris and just how close it was to all coming crashing down. No doubt some well-paid sports psychologists at Jincheon are on the case for the next Olympic cycle and beyond.

But it’s also indicative of a longer-term trend where the gap between the Korean women and the rest of the archery peloton is closing – and has been for some time. 

Whatever the women can deliver, there does seem to be something almost delightful about the current men’s team of Kim Woojin, Kim Je Deok and Lee Woo Seok.

Not only is it the same trio that cruised to victory in Paris, but the three men finished in exactly the same order at this year’s trials as they did at last year’s Olympic trials. Maybe it’s just coincidence, but the symmetry is telling – like it’s the natural order of things.

Nothing looks hard. Nothing seems like the slightest effort. They look like they are having the time of their lives. This particular team have so far only lost a single international match – the very first final they contested in Shanghai in 2024. 

The ascendancy of Kim Woojin to the greatest of all time status along with two other remarkable talents of different ages – Woojin is 32, Woo Seok 27 and Je Deok 21 – seems to have somehow alchemised into an almost unbeatable magic. Perhaps the fact they are all from slightly different generations of athletes has something to do with it.

The current Korean men are also an expression of a classic Olympic team narrative; an experienced older hand paired with younger, fresher talent. It’s notable that the same dynamic was present for other medals in Paris, like the Türkiye men and the Mexican women – whereas the Korean women’s team were all rookies.

Perhaps unfairly, any Korean women’s recurve team always has to compete somewhat against the shadows of the past; including legendary powerhouses such as the Athens 2004 winners Park Sung-Hyun, Yun Mi Jin and Lee Sung Jin. You are aware of the legacy, and the crushing pressure to continue it. Sometimes, it looks like a chore.

In this World Archery Championships year – on home turf – it seems foolish to be betting against either of the home sides on recurve Sunday. But perhaps there has been a very subtle shift in the narrative.

It’s the recurve men’s team that are now the armoured fortress of Korean archery – and somehow, they are still having fun with it.