▲ The women's volleyball bronze medal match between South Korea and Thailand at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Park Arena Komaki in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on September 22.
The South Korean women's national volleyball team, led by head coach Cha Sang-hyun, wrapped up the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in fourth place.
The national team advanced to the semifinals after defeating tough opponents Vietnam in the group stage and Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals. However, they failed to reach the podium after suffering consecutive defeats to powerhouse Japan in the semifinals yesterday (September 21) and Thailand in the bronze medal match on September 22.
As a result, the women's volleyball team failed to secure a medal for the second consecutive tournament, following a fifth-place finish at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.
South Korea had won a medal at every single Asian Games since women's volleyball became an official sport at the 1962 Jakarta Games, before missing the podium for the first time at the 2006 Doha Games (fifth place).
This marks only the third time the women's volleyball team has failed to win a medal at the Asian Games, and the first time they have missed out in two consecutive tournaments.
South Korean women's volleyball enjoyed a golden era, highlighted by a miraculous run to the semifinals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021. However, after core players like Kim Yeon-koung and Yang Hyo-jin retired from the national team, the team failed to successfully execute a generational shift and has since slipped to the margins.
They have been overtaken not only by traditional rivals for Asian supremacy such as China and Japan, but also by Thailand, falling to the fourth-ranked team in Asia.
While China and Japan have maintained world-class performances, and Thailand has reemerged as a powerhouse—winning the 2026 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship through well-structured, team-oriented play—South Korean women's volleyball has walked a path of decline.
The team has now reached a point where victory can no longer be easily guaranteed even against Southeast Asian teams like Vietnam, Indonesia, and Taiwan, as well as Kazakhstan.
The primary cause behind the collapse of South Korean women's volleyball lies in its depleted grassroots foundation.
According to the website of the Korea Middle and High School Volleyball Federation, there are only around 20 high schools operating boys' and girls' volleyball teams, respectively.
Even among these, a significant number of schools struggle with player recruitment.
Gangneung Girls' High School, which finished third at the first Korea Middle and High School Volleyball Federation tournament in April of this year, had to scrape by with just six players until recently.
Many teams are barely keeping their programs alive under difficult conditions that make even normal training burdensome.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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