Korean Bows Are Conquering the World

The world-renowned American bow maker Hoyt offered its highest-quality bows only to U.S. archers at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. The Korean Men’s archery team also tried to get Hoyt bows, but they couldn’t since the company refused to sell. Korea’s female archers used bows made by Japan’s Yamaha (it stopped making bows since).

Korean female archers won gold medals in all of the individual and team competitions. However, Korean male archers only grabbed a silver medal in the team competition, while the U.S. won two gold medals in the men’s individual (Justin Huish) and team competitions.

That year, the Korea Archery Association (KAA) took a drastic measure. It declared players should use Korean-made bows. The KAA said, “Elementary and middle school student players are not allowed to use bows made by foreign companies in domestic competition beginning in 1997.”

The KAA’s plan was initially met with some criticism. However, Korea’s only two bow makers, “Samick Sports” and “Win&Win” started producing higher-quality bows as time went on.

All of the Korean archers who competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games used bows manufactured by Korean companies. Korea swept gold medals in all of women’s individual (Yoon Mi-jin) and team competitions and won a gold medal in the men’s team competition. At the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Korea again proved its prowess in archery by sweeping gold medals in three out of four competitions (two for women and one for men).

Korea has kept on sweeping in archery with Korean-made bows at Doha Asian Games as well. On December 11 and 12, Park Seong-hyun and Lim Dong-hyun won gold medals in Women’s and Men’s individual competitions, respectively.

Foreign players were using bows made by Korean companies at the archery range, Lusail on that day. The proportion was over half even at a glance. Indian team’s coach noted, “Five of our eight players use Korean bows. We look forward to a new product announced by a Korean company.”

It is a great advantage to use highest-quality equipment without restriction. Bows usually lose elasticity after a month. Every time bows get loose, two Korean companies repair or change them. Korean players participating in the Doha Asian Games also got thorough after-sales service this time.

Executive director of KAA Seo Geo-won stated, “It is safe to say that more than 90 percent of the world’s top ranked players use Korean-made bows. Considering what used to be like 10 years ago, I feel so proud now. Korean players and bows are conquering the world.”

uni@donga.com