Miss Korea

Miss Korea (미스코리아) is a national beauty pageant in South Korea. The reigning Miss Korea is Choi Chae-won who was crowned on October 10, 2023.

History
The first Miss Korea competition took place in 1957 and was sponsored by the Korean newspaper Hankook Ilbo. Each year, approximately fifty women compete in Seoul, South Korea, and seven are selected by a panel of judges. The winner "Jin" (진) is crowned as the official Miss Korea. Additionally, there are two "Sun" (선) finalists (equivalent to 1st runners-up), who go on to compete in Miss International or Miss Earth. Lastly, four "Mi" (미) finalists (equivalent to semi-finalists) are chosen.

On March 16, 2011, the president of the Miss World Organization, Julia Morley, announced the newly launched Miss World Korea pageant. Until 2010, Miss Korea would also select the representative to Miss World, but starting with Miss World 2011, a separate competition has been held to choose the contestant who will represent Korea.

In 2015, Hanju E&M took over Miss Korea Organization. Since 2016, Miss Korea organization no longer send South Korea's representative to Miss Universe.

In 2022, Mina Sue Choi represented Korea at the 22nd Miss Earth pageant, which was held in Parañaque, Philippines on November 29, 2022, and eventually won the crown, making Korea's first ever victory on any of the big four international beauty pageants.

International crowns

 * One — Miss Earth winner: Mina Sue Choi (2022)
 * Three — Miss Asia Pacific International winner: Seo Won-Kyoung (1969) • Yoon Mi-jung (1995) • Kim So-yoon (2002)
 * One — Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International winner: Ha Hyun-jung (2010)
 * One — Miss Asia Contest winner: Choi In-ja (1963)

Current licenses

 * 26 placements at Miss International (1960–). The highest placement is Son Tae-young, Seo Eun-mi as 1st Runner-up of Miss International 2000, Miss International 2009.
 * 8 placements at Miss Earth (2002–). The highest placement is Mina Sue Choi as Miss Earth 2022.

Past licenses

 * 8 placements at Miss Universe (1954–2015). The highest placement is Jang Yoon-jeong as 1st Runner-up of Miss Universe 1988.
 * 8 placements at Miss World (1959–2010). The highest placement is Choi Yeon-hee as 1st Runner-up of Miss World 1988.
 * 1 placements at Miss Supranational (2010). The highest placement is You Soo-jung as Top 20 of Miss Supranational 2010.
 * 1 placements at Miss Intercontinental (1977–1978, 2009–2010). The highest placement is Cha Ye-rin as Top 15 of Miss Intercontinental 2009.
 * 14 placements at Miss Asia Pacific International (1968–2005). The highest placement is Seo Won-Kyoung, Yoon Mi-jung, Kim So-yoon as Miss Asia Pacific International 1969, 1995, 2002.
 * 3 placements at Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International (2010–2012). The highest placement is Ha Hyun-jung as Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International 2010.

Titleholders
Declared as Winner
 * Color key

Ended as runner-up

Ended as top 5/8 qualification

Ended as one of the finalists or semifinalists

Ended as special awards

Miss International
Korea debuted at Miss International in 1960. One of the two 1st runner-ups (Sun) of Miss Korea represents her country at Miss International. On occasion, when the candidate doesn't qualify for any reason for the contest, another girl is sent. Traditionally, 1st runner-up competed at Miss World but since 2011, the 1st runner-up of Miss Korea represents her country at Miss International.

Miss Earth
Korea debuted at Miss Earth in 2002. One of the two 1st runner-ups (Sun) of Miss Korea represents her country at Miss Earth. On occasion, when the candidate doesn't qualify for any reason for the contest, another girl is sent

Miss Universe
Korea debuted at Miss Universe in 1954, three years before the first Miss Korea pageant. Since 2016, Korean representatives at Miss Universe have been chosen in a separate pageant, Miss Universe Korea, and the Miss Korea Organization no longer sends South Korea's representative to Miss Universe.

Miss World
Korea debuted at Miss World in 1959. The 1st Runner-up of Miss Korea represented the nation at Miss World. Since 2011, Korean representatives at the Miss World are chosen in a separate pageant Miss World Korea, that separate contest is to only focus on Miss World.