Although the glory days of the late 1970s and early 1980s may be behind them, Korea enter the 2014 World Championship targeting a top-10 finish. In the eight world championships it has previously competed in, Korea have finished in the top 10 on three occasions, with their best performance so far a fourth place in Italy in 1978, followed by eighth in 1982 and 1994. In their most recent appearance in the tournament, in 2006, Korea finished in 17th place.

Champions of Asia on four occasions – most recently in 2003 – Korea have enjoyed more success closer to home. In the three most recent Asian Games they collected gold in 2002 and 2006 and finished with bronze in 2010. In Poland, the team will look to build on their second place finish at the 2013 Asian Championship, while overlooking a disappointing 15th place finish at the 2013 World League and a 19th in the 2014 edition. Their 2013 campaign was blighted by an injury to key player Moon Sung-Min.

The team will be looking to use this World Championship as a jumping-off point towards qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The nation’s last appearance at an Olympics was at Sydney 2000, when they finished ninth.