South Korea prize money
South Korea's sportspeople have won £216,921,948 in prize money across 19 sports, which puts South Korea 11th of the 168 nations on our prize money by nation table. Sungjae Im has won the most, £38,487,022 in golf .
South Korea's highest earners
The top 60 of 401 people, every sport together
| # | NAME | SPORT | PRIZE MONEY |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sungjae Im | Golf | £38,487,022£38.5m |
| 2 | Si Woo Kim | Golf | £29,315,968£29.3m |
| 3 | K.J. Choi | Golf | £25,619,793£25.6m |
| 4 | Byeong Hun An | Golf | £16,698,650£16.7m |
| 5 | Joohyung Kim | Golf | £16,151,300£16.2m |
| 6 | Kyoung-Hoon Lee | Golf | £10,186,087£10.2m |
| 7 | Sung Kang | Golf | £7,868,202£7.9m |
| 8 | Charlie Wi | Golf | £7,621,925£7.6m |
| 9 | Y.E. Yang | Golf | £7,220,784£7.2m |
| 10 | Seung-Yul Noh | Golf | £6,224,628£6.2m |
| 11 | Shin Jin-seo | Go | £5,165,201£5.2m |
| 12 | Sangmoon Bae | Golf | £5,059,912£5.1m |
| 13 | Park Junghwan | Go | £3,635,904£3.6m |
| 14 | Whee Kim | Golf | £3,551,407£3.6m |
| 15 | Seonghyeon Kim | Golf | £2,514,860£2.5m |
| 16 | Soonwoo Kwon | Tennis | £2,484,314£2.5m |
| 17 | An Se-young | Badminton | £2,307,623£2.3m |
| 18 | Byun Sang-il | Go | £1,748,530£1.7m |
| 19 | Hyung-Taik Lee | Tennis | £1,744,952£1.7m |
| 20 | Choi Jeong | Go | £1,606,173£1.6m |
| 21 | Shin Min-jun | Go | £1,337,736£1.3m |
| 22 | D.H. Lee | Golf | £1,175,910£1.2m |
| 23 | Seo Seung-jae | Badminton | £1,119,062£1.1m |
| 24 | Kang Dong-yun | Go | £935,004£935k |
| 25 | Kim Ji-seok | Go | £844,712£845k |
| 26 | Lee So-hee | Badminton | £794,225£794k |
| 27 | Kim Won-ho | Badminton | £677,086£677k |
| 28 | Baek Ha-na | Badminton | £660,217£660k |
| 29 | Ga-Young Kim | Pool | £567,118£567k |
| 30 | Kong Hee-yong | Badminton | £551,188£551k |
| 31 | Lee Dong-hoon | Go | £510,194£510k |
| 32 | Kim Eun-ji | Go | £434,765£435k |
| 33 | K.T. Kim | Golf | £416,587£417k |
| 34 | Kim Myung-hoon | Go | £405,335£405k |
| 35 | Oh Yu-jin | Go | £368,938£369k |
| 36 | Kim So-yeong | Badminton | £365,049£365k |
| 37 | Kim Hye-jeong | Badminton | £327,613£328k |
| 38 | Yubin Shin | Table tennis | £325,012£325k |
| 39 | Bio Kim | Golf | £312,133£312k |
| 40 | Chae Yoo-jung | Badminton | £309,627£310k |
| 41 | Park Yeong-hun | Go | £298,678£299k |
| 42 | Kang Min-hyuk | Badminton | £277,077£277k |
| 43 | Jeong Na-eun | Badminton | £276,452£276k |
| 44 | Lee Sedol | Go | £267,592£268k |
| 45 | Shin Seung-chan | Badminton | £261,938£262k |
| 46 | Cheonhui Joo | Table tennis | £242,815£243k |
| 47 | Woojin Jang | Table tennis | £236,894£237k |
| 48 | Seo Seoa | Pool | £221,810£222k |
| 49 | Kim Ga-eun | Badminton | £221,744£222k |
| 50 | Jaehyun An | Table tennis | £210,452£210k |
| 51 | Jonghoon Lim | Table tennis | £202,972£203k |
| 52 | An Sung-joon | Go | £186,746£187k |
| 53 | An Kuk-hyun | Go | £176,428£176k |
| 54 | Lee Chang-seok | Go | £175,992£176k |
| 55 | Young-han Song | Golf | £166,867£167k |
| 56 | Eunji Gim | Curling | £164,798£165k |
| 57 | Sang Su Lee | Table tennis | £159,667£160k |
| 58 | Nayeong Kim | Table tennis | £159,619£160k |
| 59 | Jihee Jeon | Table tennis | £154,824£155k |
| 60 | Woo Sang-hyeok | Athletics | £146,481£146k |
The top 12, side by side
Sungjae Im alone accounts for 17.7% of South Korea's total. The top ten between them hold 76.2%, and the other 391 share the rest.
Prize money by sport
Where South Korea's £216,921,948 came from
| SPORT | PRIZE MONEY | SHARE | EARNERS | TOP EARNER |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golf | £179,218,484£179.2m | 82.6% | 35 | Sungjae Im |
| Go | £18,636,320£18.6m | 8.6% | 22 | Shin Jin-seo |
| Badminton | £9,719,363£9.7m | 4.5% | 133 | An Se-young |
| Tennis | £4,229,266£4.2m | 1.9% | 2 | Soonwoo Kwon |
| Table tennis | £2,460,177£2.5m | 1.1% | 99 | Yubin Shin |
| Pool | £1,186,193£1.2m | 0.5% | 25 | Ga-Young Kim |
| Curling | £390,254£390k | 0.2% | 7 | Eunji Gim |
| Figure skating | £316,296£316k | 0.1% | 10 | Junhwan Cha |
| Snowboarding | £259,738£260k | 0.1% | 10 | Sangho Lee |
| Athletics | £146,481£146k | 0.1% | 1 | Woo Sang-hyeok |
| Fencing | £111,111£111k | 0.1% | 13 | Song Se-ra |
| Speed skating | £104,852£105k | 0.0% | 8 | Min-Sun Kim |
| Bowling | £58,825£59k | 0.0% | 14 | Yong-Jin Gu |
| Freestyle skiing | £30,435£30k | 0.0% | 4 | Daeyoon Jung |
| Swimming | £29,407£29k | 0.0% | 9 | Hwang Sun-woo |
| CrossFit | £11,481£11k | 0.0% | 2 | Seungyeon Choi |
| Alpine skiing | £5,079£5k | 0.0% | 1 | Dong-hyun Jung |
| Chess | £4,815£5k | 0.0% | 2 | Isaak Huh |
| Squash | £3,370£3k | 0.0% | 4 | Song Sun-mi |
The split between sports
Golf is South Korea's biggest earner at 82.6% of the total. We hold nobody from South Korea in biathlon, show jumping, snooker, surfing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, triathlon, trail running, motorsport, handball, gymnastics, rodeo, sled dog racing, Enhanced Games, shogi, keirin, 3x3 basketball, gravel racing, speedway.
The nations either side of South Korea
South Korea is 11th of 168 on total prize money
| # | NATION | PRIZE MONEY | EARNERS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | £5,379,019,201£5.38bn | 8,674 |
| 2 | Australia | £659,607,300£659.6m | 611 |
| 3 | Spain | £654,130,068£654.1m | 361 |
| 4 | England | £556,423,790£556.4m | 501 |
| 5 | Japan | £387,926,884£387.9m | 1,096 |
| 6 | South Africa | £309,422,973£309.4m | 179 |
| 7 | France | £300,644,718£300.6m | 858 |
| 8 | Germany | £267,235,943£267.2m | 1,185 |
| 9 | Canada | £256,723,721£256.7m | 833 |
| 10 | Sweden | £251,582,668£251.6m | 503 |
| 11 | South Korea | £216,921,948£216.9m | 401 |
| 12 | Italy | £214,771,662£214.8m | 702 |
| 13 | Argentina | £201,445,368£201.4m | 129 |
| 14 | Northern Ireland | £201,197,690£201.2m | 17 |
| 15 | Serbia | £189,492,219£189.5m | 70 |
| 16 | Switzerland | £172,946,253£172.9m | 495 |
| 17 | Russia | £168,898,996£168.9m | 274 |
| 18 | Great Britain | £130,764,883£130.8m | 1,024 |
| 19 | Chile | £127,256,396£127.3m | 46 |
| 20 | Austria | £126,854,691£126.9m | 358 |
| 21 | Norway | £117,762,373£117.8m | 432 |
| 22 | Croatia | £94,384,359£94.4m | 93 |
| 23 | Czechia | £92,444,959£92.4m | 238 |
| 167 | Curaçao | £370£370 | 1 |
| 168 | Honduras | £156£156 | 1 |
South Korea against its neighbours
Frequently asked questions
How much prize money has South Korea won?
£216,921,948 across 401 people in 19 sports. That ranks South Korea 11th of the 168 nations we hold prize money for.
Who is South Korea's highest earning sportsperson?
Sungjae Im, with £38,487,022 in golf prize money: 17.7% of everything South Korea has won. Next is Si Woo Kim on £29,315,968.
Which sport has earned South Korea the most prize money?
Golf, at £179,218,484 across 35 players, ahead of Go on £18,636,320.
Which nation is just above South Korea?
Sweden, 10th on £251,582,668. Italy is 12th, just below, on £214,771,662.
Where to next
Every nation is ranked on prize money by nation. South Korea's golf money has its own page: South Korea in golf.South Korea's Go money has its own page: South Korea in Go.South Korea's badminton money has its own page: South Korea in badminton.South Korea's tennis money has its own page: South Korea in tennis.South Korea's table tennis money has its own page: South Korea in table tennis.South Korea's pool money has its own page: South Korea in pool.South Korea's curling money has its own page: South Korea in curling.South Korea's figure skating money has its own page: South Korea in figure skating.South Korea's snowboarding money has its own page: South Korea in snowboarding.South Korea's athletics money has its own page: South Korea in athletics.South Korea's fencing money has its own page: South Korea in fencing.South Korea's speed skating money has its own page: South Korea in speed skating.South Korea's bowling money has its own page: South Korea in bowling.South Korea's freestyle skiing money has its own page: South Korea in freestyle skiing.South Korea's swimming money has its own page: South Korea in swimming.South Korea's CrossFit money has its own page: South Korea in CrossFit.South Korea's squash money has its own page: South Korea in squash. One place up is Sweden. One place down is Italy.