Ku Min-jung (also ''Gu Min-jeong'', ko, 구 민정; born August 25, 1973, in

Jeollabuk-do North Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollabuk-do''), also known as Jeonbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Jeolla has a population of 1,869,711 (2015) and has a geographic area of 8,067 km2 (3,115 sq mi) located in the Honam region in the southwest ...

) is a retired South Korean volleyball player. She represented

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004), and also often played as an

outside hitter Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summe ...

and attacker. Ku was also a member of the

South Korea women's national volleyball team The South Korea women's national volleyball team (Korean : 대한민국 여자 배구 국가대표팀) represents South Korea in international volleyball competitions and friendly matches. It was one of the leading squads in the world in the 1970s ...

who attained a great success in the late 1990s and early 2000s, capturing two silver medals each at the

Asian Men's Volleyball Championship The Asian Men's Volleyball Championship is an international volleyball competition in Asia and Oceania contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC), the sport's continent governing body. The i ...

(1993 and 1997) and at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

(1998 and 2002). Ku made her official debut at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, where she competed as a member of the South Korean squad in the women's volleyball tournament. Collecting a total of three triumphs, two losses, and eight classification points in the preliminary pool, the South Koreans lost the quarterfinal match to the U.S. squad, led by

Kerri Walsh Kerri Lee Walsh Jennings (born August 15, 1978) is an American professional beach volleyball player, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and a one-time Olympic bronze medalist. She is the beach volleyball leader in career victories as of 2016 hav ...

(who later turned into a beach volleyball player in the next three Olympics), with a five-score set of 24–26, 25–17, 23–25, 27–25, 14–16. During the fifth round of the match, Ku returned a ball down the left line that was called out and ended into a protest against the aggressive Americans. After suffering a heavy defeat in the quarterfinals, the South Korean squad finished eighth in a classification round match against Croatia with a set score of 1–3. When

hosted the

2002 Asian Games The 2002 Asian Games ( ko, 2002년 아시아 경기대회/2002년 아시안 게임, Icheoni-nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheoni-nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the XIV Asian Games ( ko, 제14회 아시아 경기대회/제14회 아시안 � ...

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

, Ku helped the South Koreans capture the silver medal in a final match against China with a set score of 1–3. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Ku qualified for the second time as a member and captain of the South Korean squad in the women's volleyball tournament after receiving an automatic berth from the Asian Championships. Unable to improve a fair performance from Sydney, she and the rest of the South Korean team were defeated in the quarterfinal match against Russia with a unanimous set score of 0–3 (17–25, 15–25, 22–25). Ku was also appointed as the

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

for Korea, along with former basketball coach Kim Sung-Ho, under a joint march in the opening ceremony.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ku, Min-Jung 1973 births Living people South Korean women's volleyball players Olympic volleyball players for South Korea Volleyball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in volleyball Volleyball players at the 1998 Asian Games Volleyball players at the 2002 Asian Games Sportspeople from North Jeolla Province Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games