Korean Sports

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The most popular spectator sport, however, is not on-lime gaming but baseball. The beloved American past time was first introduced to Korea in 1905. Koreans took the sport to a whole new level when they formed the first professional baseball league which was the Korea Baseball Organization which was established in 1982. The South Korean baseball team reached the semi-finals during the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

The 1988 Summer Olympics were hosted in Seoul, South Korea. Not to be outdone by their Asian counterparts, South Koreans have competed in various Olympic sports like archery, shooting, table tennis, short track speed skating, handball, freestyle wrestling, judo, taekwondo, and football. The Asian games of 1986 and 2002 were also held in South Korea.

Sports in Korea

The famous martial art, Taekwondo, originated in Korea. Modern rules were standardized in the 1950 and in the 1960s and the martial became an official Olympic sport in 2000. In the South Korean military, Taekwondo is an integral part of the training. There are other less popluar Korean martial arts like subak and taekkyeon.

Yet another Korean martial art is Haidong kumdo. This form utilizes swords and allows students to perform moves in increasing difficulty in order to advance through higher belt levels. This particular sport has become very popular in Australia and in a few places in the United States.

...to be continued.

South Korean Cuisine

In terms of traditions and customs that are centuries-old, South Koreans have retained much of these in the form of their cuisine, ancestor worship and the ideals of Confucius. World-renowned Korean food will always satisfy any avid culinary aficionado. Staples of the Korean diet include Kimchi, Bibimbap (mixed rice with vegetables) , Treokbokki (seasoned beef), Japchae (boiled sweet potato) Doenjang jjigae (soybean), Mandu (dumplings), Kimbap (rice roll wrapped in seaweed), Bulgogi (Korean beef barbeque) and steamed rice. Kimchi is the most popular spicy dish of the Koreans which is made of cabbage and various seasonings.