Korea

Korea is a country in Asia. Korean cubers have held WCA world records in 4 events.

History of cubing in Korea

Pre-WCA (2001-2005)

There were multiple online cubing communities in Korea, corresponding to different portal sites. The Solving the Cube group existed since 2001. The other major group, KCRC, was founded in 2005 or 2006.

Beginning of WCA competitions in Korea (2005-2006)

Since 2005, the most important members of the Korean cubing community were thus split between these two groups; this is the cause of the cubing politics at the beginning of the Korean WCA competitions in 2005.

The first South Korean from Korea to speedsolve was Lee Jun-Kyo, who competed in the World Championship 2005. (The first South Korean competitor was James Song in 2005, who lived in Southern California.) Upon coming back to Korea, he became the first to let known in Korea that such competitions existed. At the time, there was one big cube group, a community page in one of the Korean community websites, translating to "solving the Rubik's Cube." Jun-Kyo was a member of the group and suggested there that such competitionts should be held in Korea. The administrators of the group found members who could speak another language. One such competitotor was Ilkyoo Choi.

Ilkyoo sent emails back and forth with Tyson Mao and Ron van Bruchem, but there were miscommunications. Mr. Hwang, the distributor of Rubik's Cube in Korea and who worked for Seven Towns, became the first delegate. The first competition held in Korea was delegated by Mr. Hwang. The president of the KCRC was suspicious of Mr. Hwang. Ilkyoo planned to hold competitions in Summer 2006 with Mr. Hwang as the delegate. Because KRCA did not like the idea that Solving the Cube would host the first competition, their members refused to participate in this competition.

Also in summer 2006, Ilkyoo came to the United States to study. The only person left who spoke English was a member of KCRC, who actually held a competition, the president of KCA. The president of KCRC suggested that there should be a national organization. KCA was therefore founded in 2006.

World-wide recognition (2007-2008)

In January 2007, at KCRC2007, Yu Jeong-Min (Gungz) set the 3x3 speedsolve average (11.76) and OH single (19.34) world record. The 3x3 speedsolve average was especially greeted with surprise in the western world since it shattered Anssi Vanhala's previous record of 13.22. The news immediately placed Korea on the map in these events. Shortly after this competition, Tyson Mao emailed Ilkyoo, offering to pay both Gungz and Ilkyoo to fly to US Nationals. However, the sponsor refused to pay for their trip because Gungz and Ilkyoo were not US citizens.

Further growth (2008-present)

In January of 2008, the national competition was held. There were four other competitions held in 2008. The WCA regulations allow ticket system; results in one round can be used to decide qualifications for another round. The competition of January 2009 was planned to be only for those competitors who had obtained a ticket through their performances in 2008. It was during one of these 2008 competitions that Lee Seung-Woon set the OH single world record of 14.34.

Korean name transliteration

Transliteration of Korean names in the WCA database was changed in 2011 by Ilkyoo Choi. The original format was decided by the KCA, who allowed registration using only Korean and decided on the transliteration himself. Ilkyoo called for Korean competitors to request transliteration changes and have changes dozens of names.

Notable cubers

Notable cubers from Korea include

• Ilkyoo Choi
• Yu Jeong-Min
• Lee Seung-Woon
• Chang Jee-Hoon
• Yunsu Nam
• Kang Ji-Jon

See also

• Korea Cube Association

External links

• Korea Cube Association - Recognized by the WCA as the official Korean national organization.