ⓒYONHAP News

Speed skater Kim Min-seok won South Korea’s first medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics, taking bronze in the men's one-thousand-500 meter event on Tuesday.

In the competition at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, the 22-year-old finished the race with a time of one minute 44-point-24 seconds.

Kim had won bronze four years ago in the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, becoming the first Asian to win an Olympic medal in the one-thousand-500 meter event. 

A day later, short track speed skater Hwang Dae-heon secured South Korea’s first gold medal of the Games.

Hwang won the gold in the men’s one-thousand-500 meter final at the Capital Indoor Stadium on Wednesday after crossing the finish line in two minutes nine-point-219 seconds.

Fellow Team Korea skaters Lee June-seo and Park Jang-hyuk finished fifth and seventh respectively.

With Wednesday's gold, Hwang is now a two-time Olympic medalist. He had previously won the silver medal in the men’s 500 meter event at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Short track speed skater Choi Min-jeong added to that medal tally on Friday night, winning silver in the women's one-thousand meter event.

Choi finished the race in one minute 28-point-443 seconds, a mere zero-point-052 seconds behind Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands, who took gold.