ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a variety of ways that transnational sports shape global Koreanness. It deals with the historical emergence of transnational sports from the introduction of modern sports in the early 20th century to the present. The spectacular gold-medal victory of figure skater Kim Yuna at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics cemented her status as a South Korean national hero, a global sports celebrity, and a commercial juggernaut. Transnational sport can be understood as one form of commercialized media that is one genre in a number of the Korean Wave or Hallyu industries, including film, Korean-pop, animation, television programs, and video gaming, that have been recognized by the South Korean government as important export-oriented industries in the 21st century. The history of modern sport in Korea has been shaped in the context of transnational relations forged by national, religious, and corporate interests.
