South Korea (officially the Republic of Korea) competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from July 27 to August 12, 2012. This was the nation's sixteenth appearance at the Olympics, having missed the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of its support for the United States boycott. The Korean Olympic Committee sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games since 1992. A total of 248 athletes, 135 men and 113 women, competed in 22 sports.

South Korea left London with a total of 30 medals (13 gold, 9 silver, and 8 bronze), finishing fifth in the medal standings and tying its record for the most gold medals won at an Olympics with the total it set at Beijing. Six of these medals were awarded to the team in fencing, five in shooting, four in archery, and three in judo. South Korean athletes dominated in archery, where they won gold medals in all but one sporting events and broke two world records. Despite the absence of baseball and softball at the Olympics, South Korea's proved successful in team sports at London, as the men's football team won the bronze medal following a match against neighbouring Japan. For the first time in its history, South Korea won Olympic medals in team fencing.

Among the nation's medalists were pistol shooter Jin Jong-oh, and taekwondo jin Hwang Kyung-seon, who both successfully defended their Olympic titles from Beijing. Three South Korean athletes won Olympic gold medals for the first time in history: gymnast Yang Hak-seon in the men's vault exercises, archer Oh Jin-hyek in the men's individual event, and sabre fencer Kim Ji-yeon in the women's individual event. Park Tae-hwan, who won two silver medals in London, emerged as the most successful South Korean swimmer in history, with a total of four Olympic medals.

Medalists

| width="78%" align="left" valign="top" | Medal Name Sport Event Date Jin Jong-oh Shooting Men's 10 m air pistol Lee Sung-jinKi Bo-baeChoi Hyun-joo Archery Women's team Kim Jae-bum Judo Men's 81 kg Kim Jang-mi Shooting Women's 25 m pistol Song Dae-nam Judo Men's 90 kg Kim Ji-yeon Fencing Women's sabre Ki Bo-bae Archery Women's individual Oh Jin-hyek Archery Men's individual Gu Bon-gilWon Woo-youngKim Jung-hwanOh Eun-seok Fencing Men's team sabre Jin Jong-oh Shooting Men's 50 m pistol Yang Hak-seon Gymnastics Men's vault Kim Hyeon-woo Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman 66 kg Hwang Kyung-seon Taekwondo Women's 67kg Park Tae-hwan Swimming Men's 400 m freestyle Park Tae-hwan Swimming Men's 200 m freestyle Choi In-jeongShin A-lamJung Hyo-jungChoi Eun-sook Fencing Women's team épée Choi Young-rae Shooting Men's 50 m pistol Kim Jong-hyun Shooting Men's 50 m rifle 3 positions Joo Se-hyukOh Sang-eunRyu Seung-min Table tennis Men's team Lee Dae-hoon Taekwondo Men's 58 kg Han Soon-chul Boxing Men's lightweight Kim Min-jae Weightlifting Men's 94 kg Jang Mi-ran Weightlifting Women's +75 kg Im Dong-hyunKim Bub-minOh Jin-hyek Archery Men's team Cho Jun-ho Judo Men's 66 kg Choi Byung-chul Fencing Men's foil Jung Jin-sun Fencing Men's épée Nam Hyun-heeJung Gil-okJeon Hee-sookOh Ha-na Fencing Women's team foil Jung Jae-sungLee Yong-dae Badminton Men's doubles Jeon Sang-guen Weightlifting Men's +105 kg South Korea national football team Football Men's tournament

| width="22%" align="left" valign="top" |

Medals by sportSport TotalShooting3205Archery3014Fencing2136Judo2013Taekwondo1102Gymnastics1001Wrestling1001Swimming0202Weightlifting0123Boxing0101Table tennis0101Badminton0011Football0011Total139931

Delegation

The Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) selected a team of 245 athletes, 133 men and 112 women, to compete in 24 sports; it was the nation's smallest team sent to the Olympics since 1992. South Korea athletes did not qualify in basketball, canoeing, equestrian, and tennis. There was only a single competitor in rhythmic gymnastics, and in triathlon.

The South Korean team featured nine defending champions from Beijing, including freestyle swimmer Park Tae-hwan, the men's archery team (led by Im Dong-hyun), pistol shooter Jin Jong-oh, weightlifters Jang Mi-ran and Sa Jae-hyouk, and taekwondo jins Hwang Kyung-seon and Cha Dong-min. Among these champions, Jin Jong-oh only managed to defend his Olympic title for the second consecutive time. Handball player Yoon Kyung-shin, who competed at his fifth Olympics since 1992 (except the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where his team did not qualify), was the oldest athlete of the team, at age 39, and later became South Korea's flag bearer at the opening ceremony. Platform diver Kim Su-ji, on the other hand, was the youngest of the team, at age 14.

Other notable South Korean athletes featured judoka and top medal contenders Wang Ki-chun and Kim Jae-bum, foil fencer and Olympic silver medalist Nam Hyun-hee, and butterfly swimmer and Youth Olympic gold medalist Chang Gyu-cheol.

The following table lists the number of South Korean competitors who participated in each Olympic sport. Note that swimming, synchronized swimming, diving and water polo are technically considered as one sport, aquatics. However, due to their significant practical differences, they are listed separately by tradition.

SportMenWomenTotalArchery 3 3 6Athletics 11 6 17Badminton 6 6 12Boxing 2 0 2Cycling 6 4 10Diving 1 1 2Fencing 7 10 17Field hockey 16 16 32Football 18 0 18Gymnastics 5 2 7Handball 14 14 28Judo 7 7 14Modern pentathlon 2 1 3Rowing 1 3 4Sailing 4 0 4Shooting 7 6 13Swimming 6 9 15Synchronized swimming – 2 2Table tennis 3 3 6Taekwondo 2 2 4Triathlon 1 0 1Volleyball 0 12 12Weightlifting 6 4 10Wrestling 7 2 9 Total 135 113 248

Archery

South Korea has qualified three archers for the men's individual event, three archers for the women's individual event, a team for the men's team event and a team for the women's team event

Men AthleteEventRanking roundRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / ScoreSeedOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankIm Dong-hyunIndividual699 WR1 (64)W 6–0 (33)W 6–4 (16)L 1–7Did not advanceKim Bub-min6982 (63)W 6–4 (31)W 6–2 (47)W 7–1 (7)L 5–6Did not advanceOh Jin-hyek6903 (62)W 7–3 (30)W 6–4 (14) W 6–0 (43) W 7–1 (7) W 6–5 (5) W 7–1Im Dong-hyunKim Bub-minOh Jin-hyekTeam2087 WR1colspan=2 (9)W 227–220 (4)L 219–224 (7)W 224–219

Women AthleteEventRanking roundRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / ScoreSeedOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankChoi Hyun-jooIndividual65121 (44)W 6–5 (53)W 6–5 (37)L 5–6Did not advanceKi Bo-bae6711 (64)W 6–0 (33)W 6–2 (16)W 6–0 (9)W 6–4 (4)W 6–2 (11)W 6–5Lee Sung-jin6712 (63)W 6–0 (34)W 6–2 (18)W 6–0 (10)L 2–6Did not advanceChoi Hyun-jooKi Bo-baeLee Sung-jinTeam19931colspan=2 (8)W 206–195 (5)W 221–206 (7)W 210–209

Athletics

South Korean athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard):

Men Track & road events AthleteEventFinalResultRankJang Sin-kweonMarathon2:28:2073Jeong Jin-hyeok2:38:4582Lee Doo-hang2:17:1932Byun Young-jun20 km walk1:23:2631Kim Hyun-sub1:21:3617Park Chil-sungKim Dong-young50 km walk3:57:3338Park Chil-sung3:45:55 NR13Yim Jung-hyun3:56:3434

Field events AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionKim Deok-hyeonTriple jump16.2222Did not advanceKim Yoo-sukPole vault—Did not advanceJung Sang-jinJavelin throw76.3931Did not advance

Women Track & road events AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankJung Hye-lim100 m hurdles13.487Did not advanceChung Yun-heeMarathonrowspan=3 colspan=4 2:31:5841Kim Sung-eun2:46:3896Lim Kyung-hee2:39:0376Jeon Yong-eun20 km walkcolspan=4

Field events AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionChoi Yun-heePole vault4.1018Did not advance

Badminton

Men AthleteEventGroup StageEliminationQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankLee Hyun-ilSinglesW (21–12, 21–7)colspan=2 1 QW (21–17, 21–13)W (21–15, 21–16)L (12–21, 10–21)L (12–21, 21–15, 15–21)4Son Wan-hoW (21–15, 21–19) W (21–14, 21–10)1 QL (9–21, 16–21)Did not advanceJung Jae-sungLee Yong-daeDoubles W (21–14, 21–19)W (21–16, 21–15)W (21–16, 21–11)1 QW (21–12, 21–16)L (21–17, 18–21 20–22)W (23–21, 21–10)Ko Sung-hyunYoo Yeon-seong W (17–21, 21–7, 21–13)L (15–21, 14–21)L (22–24, 12–21)3Did not advance

Women AthleteEventGroup StageEliminationQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankBae Youn-jooSinglesW (16–21, 21–15, 21–12)W (21–11, 21–15)1 QL (21–15, 14–21, 14–21)Did not advanceSung Ji-hyunW (21–8, 21–5)L (18–21, 21–23)2Did not advanceHa Jung-eunKim Min-jungDoublesW (21–7, 21–19)W (21–8, 21–7)W (18–21, 21–14, 21–12)1 QDisqualified – match fixingJung Kyung-eunKim Ha-naW (21–5, 21–11)W (23–21, 21–18)W (21–14, 21–11)1 QDisqualified – match fixing

Mixed AthleteEventGroup StageQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankLee Yong-daeHa Jung-eunDoubles L (19–21, 12–21) L (15–21 12–21) W (21–15, 21–15)3Did not advance

Boxing

South Korea has so far qualified in the following events.

Men AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankShin Jong-hunLight flyweightL 14–15Did not advanceHan Soon-chulLightweightW 11–6W 13+–13W 16–13W 18–13L 9–19

Cycling

Road AthleteEventTimeRankPark Sung-baekMen's road raceDid not finishNa Ah-reumWomen's road race3:35:5613

Track Sprint AthleteEventQualificationRound 1Repechage 1Round 2Repechage 2QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalTimeSpeed (km/h)RankOppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)RankLee Hye-jinWomen's sprint11.405 63.13014LLDid not advance

Team sprint AthleteEventQualificationSemifinalsFinalTimeSpeed (km/h)RankOppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)RankOppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)RankLee Eun-jiLee Hye-jinWomen's team sprint34.63651.9699Did not advance

Pursuit AthleteEventQualificationSemifinalsFinalTimeRankOpponentResultsRankOpponentResultsRankChoi Seung-wooJang Sun-jaePark Keon-wooPark Seon-hoMen's team pursuit4:07.21010Did not advance

Keirin AthleteEvent1st RoundRepechage2nd RoundFinalRankRankRankRankLee Hye-jinWomen's keirin56Did not advance17

Omnium AthleteEventFlying lapPoints raceElimination raceIndividual pursuitScratch raceTime trialTotal pointsRankTimeRankPointsRankRankTimeRankRankTimeRankCho Ho-sungMen's omnium13.61412201094:32.3821381:04.15086011Lee Min-hyeWomen's omnium14.79314314113:46.87115936.547117415

Diving

Men AthleteEventPreliminariesSemifinalsFinalPointsRankPointsRankPointsRankPark Ji-ho10 m platform370.5026Did not advance

Women AthleteEventPreliminariesSemifinalsFinalPointsRankPointsRankPointsRankKim Su-ji10 m platform215.7526Did not advance

Fencing

South Korea has qualified 14 fencers. Men AthleteEventRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / Opposition ScoreOpposition ScoreOpposition ScoreOpposition ScoreOpposition ScoreOpposition ScoreRankJung Jin-sunIndividual épée W 15–11 W 15–8 W 15–11 L 13–15 W 12–11Park Kyoung-doo L 9–15Did not advanceChoi Byung-chulIndividual foilW 15–13W 15–13W 15–13L 12–15W 15–14Gu Bon-gilIndividual sabreW 15–12L 14–15Did not advanceKim Jung-hwan L 14–15Did not advanceWon Woo-young W 15–6 L 11–15Did not advanceGu Bon-gilKim Jung-hwanWon Woo-youngOh Eun-seokTeam sabrecolspan=3 W 45–38W 45–37W 45–26

Women