Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps (), commonly known as the Sangmu (), is the sports division of the

Republic of Korea Armed Forces The Republic of Korea Armed Forces (), also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the armed forces of South Korea. The ROK Armed Forces is one of the largest and most powerful standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel strength o ...

. Its headquarters are located in Mungyeong, Gyeongsangbuk-do. It was founded in 1984 by the integration of the athletic teams of ROK Army, ROK Navy and ROK Air Force.

Composition

First Athletic Unit

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

— Gimcheon Sangmu FC take part in ''

K League K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2. History Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National ...

'' *

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

— Sangmu Basketball Team take part in ''

Korean Basketball League The Korean Basketball League (KBL; ) is a professional men's basketball league in South Korea which was established in 1997. The league consists of ten teams and each team plays a total of 54 games (27 home and 27 away) in the regular season. H ...

's Reserve League'' *

Handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the ...

— Sangmu Phoenix take part in ''

Handball Korea League The Handball Korea League is a handball league in South Korea. The league has been sponsored by the SK Group since 2011 and is therefore called the ''SK Handball Korea League''. The league finals are hosted at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium wi ...

'' *

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

Boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

Judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...

Second Athletic Unit

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

—

Sangmu Baseball Team Sangmu Phoenix ( ko, 상무 피닉스 야구단) is a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 2005. The team is part of the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps, and they play in the KBO Futures League. Their home stadium is Sangmu Bas ...

take part in ''

Futures League The Toyota Second XI or Futures League is the Australian national second XI cricket competition. Run by Cricket Australia, it is part of its development program and includes the various state and territory second XI teams, from the 2009–10 s ...

(

Korea Professional Baseball The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are ...

's Reserve League)'' *

Volleyball 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 Sum ...

—

Sangmu Volleyball Team Sangmu Shinhyup ( ko, 상무신협) is a South Korean volleyball team founded in 1951. They played in V-League (2005–2012) and their home stadium was Seongnam Gymnasium in Seongnam. Club honours * Club World Championship **5th place (1): 1992 ...

took part in '' V-League'' *

Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

Field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

Gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

Weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; pro ...

Table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

Third Athletic Unit

* Women's football — Busan Sangmu WFC take part in '' WK-League'' * Taekwondo *

Shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles ...

* Aquatics *

Archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In ...

Fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

Cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from ...

* Biathlon * Modern pentathlon

Achievements

;

Military World Games The Military World Games is a multi-sport event for military sportspeople, organized by the International Military Sports Council (CISM). They have been held since 1995, although championships for separate sports had been held for some years. A ...

Role in professional sports

Besides providing athletic training and facilities to serving active-duty military personnel, ''Sangmu'' also accepts qualified male professional athletes serving their mandatory military service. Athletes from team sports play for the ''Sangmu'' teams on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

from their parent club and return to their respective clubs at the end of their service. Serving ''Sangmu'' athletes may be temporarily released to participate in international competitions if called up by their respective sporting associations. Applicants submit the appropriate documents towards the end of their playing season, which differs depending on the sport, and accepted applicants are further screened through a series of physical fitness tests and a written test. Athletes from team sports are also chosen based on availability of places in the team for the upcoming season and their past records. Those rejected may either re-apply (if not of maximum age yet) or serve as a regular soldier. Qualified applicants undergo five weeks of basic military training like all other recruits before being assigned to their respective athletic units. Due to their military status, ''Sangmu'' athletes are required to salute when the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

is played and are referred to as their rank instead of the honorific for athletes (''seonsu'', 선수) even at international competitions and tournaments. The existing policy dictates that athletes who have not completed their service and win a gold medal at the Asian Games or at least a bronze medal at the Olympics may be exempted, although they still have to undergo basic training. If the athlete is already serving, he may be granted an early

discharge Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from ser ...

, as in the case of basketball player

Oh Se-keun Oh Se-keun (born 20 May 1987) is a South Korean professional basketball player who plays for Anyang KGC in the Korean Basketball League. Once a mainstay of the South Korean national team, he was a member of the gold medal-winning team at the ...

and fencer Kim Jun-ho, both of whom were discharged weeks after winning their respective medals. Due to this policy, the topic of mandatory military service and exemptions garners increased public interest during the Olympics and Asian Games.

References

External links

Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps

Official Facebook
{{in lang, ko Military of South Korea Multi-sport clubs in South Korea Military sports clubs 1984 establishments in South Korea