South Korea, as Korea, competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 42 competitors (32 men and 10 women), took part in 24 events in 8 sports.
Medalists
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%;"
|-
! Medal
! Name
! Sport
! Event
! Date
|-
| || Oh Seung-lip || Judo || Men's 80 kg ||
|}
Archery
In the first modern archery competition at the Olympics, South Korea entered three women. Their highest placing competitor was Kim Ho-gu, at 7th place in the women's competition.
Women's Individual Competition:
- Kim Ho-gu – 2369 points (7th place)
- Ju Chun-sam – 2349 points (12th place)
- Kim Hyang-min – 2275 points (20th place)
Athletics
Men's High Jump
- Park Sang-soo
:* Qualification Round – 2.00m (→ did not advance)
Men's 4 × 100 m Relay
- Lee Chung-ping, Soo Wen-ho, Chen Chin-lung, and Chen Ming-chih
:* Heat – 41.78s (→ did not advance)
Women's Shot Put
- Paik Ok-ja
:* Qualification Round – 15.78m (→ did not advance)
Women's Discus Throw
- Paik Ok-ja
:* Qualification Round – DNS (→ did not advance)
Boxing
Men's Light Middleweight (–71 kg)
- Jae Keun-lim
:* First Round – Bye
:* Second Round – Defeated Namchal Tsendaiush (MGL), 3:2
:* Third Round – Lost to Rolando Garbey (CUB), TKO-2
Judo
Shooting
Five male shooters represented South Korea in 1972.
;Open
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
!rowspan="2"|Athlete
!rowspan="2"|Event
!colspan=2|Final
|-style="font-size:95%"
!Points
!Rank
|-align=center
|align=left|Choi Chung-seok
|align=left|50 m rifle prone
|589
|60
|-align=center
|align=left|Park Do-geun
|align=left|Skeet
|182
|44
|-align=center
|align=left|Kim Nam-gu
|align=left rowspan=2|Trap
|177
|41
|-align=center
|align=left|Kim Tae-seok
|181
|32
|-align=center
|align=left|Park Seong-tae
|align=left|Skeet
|168
|56
|}
Swimming
Men's 400 m freestyle:
- Cho Oh-ryun – Heat: 4:21.78 (did not advance)
Men's 1500 m freestyle
- Cho Oh-ryun – Heat: 17:29.23 (did not advance)
Volleyball
Men's: 7th place
- Roster: Choi Jong-ok, Chung Dong-kee, Jin Jun-tak, Kang Man-soo, Kim Chung-han, Kim Kun-bong, Kim Kyui-hwan, Lee Chun-pio, Lee In, Lee Sun-koo, Lee Yong-kwan, and Park Kee-won
- Preliminary round: 2–3
- Semi–Final: Lost to Romania (0–3)
- Final: Defeated Brazil (3–0)
Women's: 4th place
- Roster: Jo Hea-jung, Kim Eun-hui, Kim Young-ja, Lee In-sook, Lee Jung-ja, Lee Kyung-ai, Lee Kyung-sook, Lee Soon-bok, Yoon Young-nae, Yu Jung-hye, and Yu Kyung-hwa
- Preliminary round: 2–1
- Semi–Final: Lost to Japan (0–3)
- Final: Lost to D.P.R. Korea (0–3)
Weightlifting
Lightweight:
- Won Shin-hee – 427.5 kg (7th place)