South Korea (W)

Less than a year after the government of the Republic of Korea was established in 1948, the first official women's football matches were held in Seoul on 28 and 29 June 1949, as a part of the National Girls' and Women's Sport Games. While women's basketball and volleyball won public recognition through the Games, football was seen as being unsuitable for women and unattractive to the public. As a result, the women's teams were disbanded soon after the event.

When women's football was officially adopted at the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing, the South Korean sports authorities decided to form a women's team with athletes from other sports and send the team to the Games. The result was defeat in all matches against Japan, North Korea, China and Chinese Taipei. Nevertheless, colleges and corporations started to launch women's football teams through the 1990s and the first annual national women's football event, the Queen's Cup, was held in 1993. When the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup sparked interest worldwide, the South Korean ministry in charge of sports sponsored the foundation of new teams and tournaments for girls’ high school teams, university teams and company teams. To promote women's football, the Korea Women's Football Federation (KWFF) was established in March 2001, as an independent organization in association with the Korea Football Association (KFA).

South Korea finished in third place at the 2003 AFC Women's Championship and qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time. The Taegeuk Ladies were drawn in Group B with Norway, France and Brazil. Their first match played at the World Cup was a 3–0 loss to Brazil. They then lost 1–0 to France and 7–1 to Norway, with Kim Jin-hee scoring South Korea's first ever World Cup goal against the latter. They also won the inaugural EAFF Championship on home soil in 2005.

The notable talents in South Korea appeared in the late 2000s. They won the 2009 Summer Universiade and the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, as well as finishing third at the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. The number of Women's World Cup berths in Asia was increased from three to five in 2012, which saw South Korea qualify for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup as the fourth-placed team at the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup. They earned their first ever World Cup victory by defeating Spain 2–1 after a 2–0 loss to Brazil and a 2–2 draw with Costa Rica in Group E. They made it out of the group stage for the first time with the new generation, although losing 3–0 to France in the round of 16.