Park Joo-bong (; born 5 December 1964) is a South Korean former

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

player who excelled from the early 1980s through the mid-1990s. He was a member of South Korean national team from 1981 to 1996. He won a gold medal in the men's doubles at the

1992 Olympics 1992 Olympics may refer to: *1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain *1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provença ...

, three-times

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

mixed doubles champion, two-times World men's doubles champion, and a silver medal in the mixed doubles at the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Career

Park began his badminton career at the age of 11 encouraged by his father, Park Myung-soo. He was selected to join the South Korean national team in 1981. Park is one of the most successful players ever in the

World Badminton Championships The BWF World Championships is a badminton tournament organized by the Badminton World Federation. It's the most prestigious badminton competition, offering the most ranking points, along with the Summer Olympics badminton events introduced in ...

with 5 titles, 2 of them in men's doubles and 3 in mixed doubles. He also won a gold and a silver medal at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

and 9

All England Open Badminton Championships The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the BWF's latest grading system, it was given Super Series status in 2007, upgraded to Super Series Premi ...

titles. Inspired by his idol

Christian Hadinata Christian Hadinata ( zh, t=紀明發, born 11 December 1949) is a former Chinese Indonesian badminton player. Profile Though early in his career he was a fine singles player who reached the final of the prestigious All-England Championship ...

, though Park was primarily a doubles player, the greatest one ever in the opinion of some, he was capable of world class level singles which he displayed in occasional tournaments and

Thomas Cup The Thomas Cup, sometimes referred as World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing member nations of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championships h ...

appearances early in his career and currently holds the South Korean national record of 103 consecutive wins in men's singles from 1981 to 1984. His playing strengths included remarkable reflexes, reach, quickness, agility, and power. Park competed for Korea in

badminton at the 1992 Summer Olympics Badminton had its debut as an official medal sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics. It was held from 28 July to 4 August 1992. Four events were held in the first competition of the sport: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, and women's do ...

in men's doubles with partner

Kim Moon-Soo Kim Moon-soo (; born August 27, 1951) is a South Korean politician and former labor activist who served as the minister of employment and labor from 2024 to 2025. A member of the People Power Party, he was the party's nominee in the 2025 pr ...

. They won the gold medal defeating

Eddy Hartono Eddy Hartono Arbie ( zh, c=洪忠中; born 19 July 1964) is an Indonesian former badminton player who excelled in the late 1980s and early 1990s. After a brief stint competing in singles, he soon became a doubles specialist noted for his deft rac ...

and

Rudy Gunawan Rudy Gunawan ( zh, c=郭宏源; born 31 December 1966) is a former Indonesian badminton player who played between 1980s and 1990s. Rudy Gunawan won various international championships, both in the men's doubles and mixed doubles events. He has p ...

from Indonesia 15-11, 15-7. Park also competed for Korea in

badminton at the 1996 Summer Olympics Badminton at the 1996 Summer Olympics included the four events (men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles) as well as a new event: mixed doubles. An additional change to the tournament was the playoff game for the bronze medal ...

in mixed doubles with partner

Ra Kyung-min Ra Kyung-min (; born 25 November 1976) is a badminton player from South Korea. Ra was a dominating mixed doubles team with her partner Kim Dong-moon from the late 1990s to early 2000s, resulting in a 70–match winning streak and 14 consecutiv ...

. They won the silver medal, losing in the final against

Kim Dong-moon Kim Dong-moon (; born 22 September 1975) is a retired South Korean badminton player who won major titles between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s (decade), and widely regarded as one of finest men's doubles and mixed doubles players in badminton h ...

and

Gil Young-ah Gil Young-ah (; born April 11, 1970) is a South Korean former female badminton player. She was born in Ansan. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, she won the bronze medal in the women's doubles together with Shim Eun-jung. Four years lat ...

13-15, 15-4, 15-12. Park was the first Korean player to be inducted into the

Badminton Hall of Fame The Badminton World Federation (BWF) Hall of Fame is located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It honours both players and other contributors to the sport of badminton. The BWF Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization with the goal to preserve, celebrat ...

in 2001.

Personal life

Park is married to Lee Soo-jin, with their son Park Kwang-ryul who was born on 2 October 1994. Besides being able to speak his mother tongue, he can also speak English and Japanese.

Achievements

Olympic Games

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

World Championships

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

World Cup

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Asian Games

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Asian Championships

''Men's singles'' ''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Asian Cup

''Mixed doubles''

IBF World Grand Prix (47 titles, 9 runners-up)

The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006. ''Men's singles'' ''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

IBF International (4 titles)

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

International tournament (1 title, 1 runner-up)

''Men's doubles''

Invitational tournament (1 runners-up)

''Men's doubles''

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Joo-bong 1964 births Living people South Korean male badminton players People from Imsil County Badminton players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players for South Korea Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Olympic silver medalists for South Korea Olympic medalists in badminton Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 1982 Asian Games Badminton players at the 1986 Asian Games Badminton players at the 1990 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 1982 Asian Games Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games World No. 1 badminton players South Korean badminton coaches Badminton players from North Jeolla Province Korea National Sport University alumni 20th-century South Korean sportsmen