The Korea Archery Association has completed the national team trials process for 2026, with new faces appearing on the women’s recurve and compound teams in a year where the 20th Asian Games is by far the biggest event on the calendar for both recurve and compound.
Recurve women will be represented by Kang Chaeyoung, Oh Yejin and Lee Yunji.
Kang, the reigning world champion, has been a fixture on the frontline women’s team for the last decade, while the 22-year-old Oh was world youth champion in Limerick in 2023, and also won gold at an edition of the Asia Cup in 2024. Lee, age 24, has no international outdoor experience.
With Korean archery placing enormous emphasis on leadership from the eldest and most experienced hands, a lot of weight falls on the shoulders of Kang, who cast herself as the ‘dependable older sister’ in a recent interview.
“Oh Yejin… is full of confidence. Lee Yunji is a player I look forward to seeing more of in the future because she always works hard,” Kang told Nate. “Although they lack experience in international competitions, I want to advise them to focus on training to build chemistry during matches and to do their best to create games without regrets.”
To the consternation of Korean media, 2020 Olympic champion An San failed to make the team, finishing fifth in the final trial, while 2024 Olympic triple gold medallist and 2022 Asian Games champion Lim Sihyeon was eliminated in an earlier round.
