Book excerpt: This study is intended to search for the significant role of sport in Korea. A major focus of this study is to argue that the development of Korean sport has been used as a mechanism for promoting and supporting cultural exchange between the West and the East, and for political and ideological advancement, the revision of traditional values, and economical and social transformations. This study also argues that the evolution of Korean sport has been the product of cultural diffusion, national assimilation and imperial resistance.