Korea has professional leagues in sports: football, baseball, basketball, volleyball, golf, billiard, table tennis, and Go (baduk). Korean professional sports began to develop in 1982 when six professional baseball teams were created. Subsequently, the Korean football league started in 1983, followed by professional basketball in 1997 and professional volleyball in 2005. At present, professional sports are actively developed, centered on four professional sports leagues: football, baseball, basketball, and volleyball.

The Korean national football team advanced to the semifinals at the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan, advanced to the round of 16 at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, and won the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The Korean national baseball team won the gold medal in the final victory at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing Olympics in 2008, came in second in the 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC), and won the title in the WBSC Premier12 in 2015. In addition, the national women’s volleyball team, led by such star athletes as the “Volleyball Empress” Kim Yeon-koung, made it to the semi-finals at the London Summer Olympic Games in 2012 and Tokyo Summer Olympic Games in 2020, and won a gold medal at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. These achievements have steadily increased people’s interest in Korean professional sports.