About 40 students and teachers from Incheon take part

Hyundai Steel archers, including Ku Bon-chan, give live demonstrations

33 schools and 3,200 students participated last year

Program targets 60 schools nationwide this year

Students and teachers from two Incheon elementary schools pose for a group photo with Hyundai Steel archery team officials at the company's archery range Tuesday, where the elementary archery program field trip event was held. [Hyundai Steel]
Students and teachers from two Incheon elementary schools pose for a group photo with Hyundai Steel archery team officials at the company's archery range Tuesday, where the elementary archery program field trip event was held. [Hyundai Steel]

Elementary school students who have been learning archery in physical education class got a rare chance to visit a professional training range in person — watching elite archers draw their bows up close and trying the sport themselves.

Hyundai Steel announced Wednesday that it held an "elementary archery program range experience event" at its archery facility in Incheon's Seohae-gu on Tuesday.

About 40 students and teachers from two Incheon elementary schools currently enrolled in the "Elementary Archery Program with Hyundai Steel" attended the event.

Head Coach Han Seung-hun joined recurve athletes Ku Bon-chan, Heo Jae-woo, Nam Yu-bin, Kim Pil-jung and Seo Min-gi, along with EMC athletes Han Jae-yeop and Kang Dong-hyeon, to meet with the students.

The students watched closely as athletes drew the bowstring, took aim and released their arrows. They compared the techniques they had learned in class with the movements of the professionals and toured the training facilities and competition setup the athletes use.

A shooting event was also held, giving students the chance to fire arrows themselves.

Participants said they were glad to experience archery — which they had learned about in school — at an actual professional training range. They added that watching the athletes demonstrate up close made the sport feel more exciting and approachable.

The event is part of the "Elementary Archery Program" that Hyundai Steel and the Korea Archery Association have jointly operated since 2024. The initiative aims to move archery beyond its identity as an elite competitive sport and spread it into school physical education and recreational activity.

Classes are offered through regular PE periods, after-school care programs or school sports clubs, depending on each school's circumstances. Retired athletes and professional instructors serve as coaches.

Specially designed equipment is also provided to help young students shoot safely — practice arrows tipped with sponge or foam instead of metal points, along with safety target nets.

The program has grown steadily. In its first year last year, about 3,200 students at 33 elementary schools across the country took part. This year, the goal is to expand to a total of 60 schools, combining those that receive visiting specialist instructors with those running the classes independently.

The program is also working to help schools build the capacity to run archery classes independently, rather than relying solely on outside instructors and equipment. New schools receive priority support in the form of instructors and gear, while schools already in the program are offered teacher training sessions and workshops so their own staff can lead the classes.

Hyundai Steel plans to continue the program through 2028, expanding the number of participating schools while refining its curriculum and course materials and broadening the supply of student-appropriate equipment and teacher training.

The Hyundai Steel men's archery team has produced Olympic gold medalists including Oh Jin-hyek and Ku Bon-chan. At the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, Kim Jong-ho and Choi Yong-hui will compete as national team representatives in the EMC event.


kwater@heraldcorp.com