HANWHA LIFEPLUS INTERNATIONAL CROWN

October 23, 2025

Hyo Joo Kim

Haeran Ryu

Jin Young Ko

Hye-Jin Choi

New Korea Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. We are almost done with the first round of the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown. Happy to be joined by the four players from team Korea, Jin Young Ko and Haeran Ryu, who tied their match with Team Sweden, and Jin Young Ko and Hye-Jin Choi with a 3 & 2 victory over Team Sweden.

Hye-Jin and Hyo Joo, we will start with you and your match. You won the second hole to go 1-up, never trailed in your match. Overall, Hyo Joo, we'll start with you. How do you feel about how you played today?

HYO JOO KIM: First of all, Hye-Jin did a wonderful job. She really got us off to a good start, so I thought I should really do my part and contribute to the team. We worked together, so we were, I think, doing very well in the first part of the game.

In the second half I don't think I really contributed much. I sort of was there with Hye-Jin supporting here and cheering her on, so I guess you could compare it to a really fine dish, and I sort of added the last salt and pepper and sprinkled it on. Tomorrow I will try to work harder to really contribute to our team.

THE MODERATOR: Hye-Jin, do you like the dinner she made for you?

HYE JIN CHOI: There were some parts where I sort of felt that I could have fallen behind, but things to Hyo Joo we were able to save our play of the hole. She's been able to sort of pull us along the different holes throughout the game, so I think we were able to finish off on a really good start.

In the initial stages after getting a birdie, I felt that I could really sort of control the flow of the game, but on some holes I made these mistakes, so I think that might have put Hyo Joo off a little bit, but thanks to Hyo Joo she made a birdie, so we were able to keep the flow of our game going and have a really great time today.

THE MODERATOR: Jin Young and Haeran, you tied your match. It was a great comeback. You trailed a lot of the front nine. Haeran, were you feeling any pressure to come back and tie the match?

HAERAN RYU: Yes, I think in the beginning, my shots were not really that bad today, but there were a lot of birdie chances that I think I could have really taken advantage of, so I tried to really control my mindset, but later on in the game I think I was upset with myself. Jin Young kept comforting me, telling me it was okay, and then on the last holes my teammates were saying "good job" and cheering me on. Thanks to them, I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow's game.

THE MODERATOR: Jin Young, you have a great crowd out following you today, lots of fans. I know Hyo Joo and Hye-Jin came out to cheer you on. What was the atmosphere like out on the golf course all day with all the fans supporting you?

JIN YOUNG KO: Actually there were a lot of fans, but I could see that Hye-Jin and Hyo Joo also had a lot of fans so we were thinking they were doing a really great job, so we really should do a great job and we could get those fans to come over to our side. We also thought maybe if they finish up early, those fans will come and cheer us.

Although we did tie, I think in terms of the atmosphere, it was great, and we did have a bit of moments where there were moments of crisis and we were a little bit ambitious, so I think we did have a little bit of putting mistakes in between, so the ball just passed the hole. There were some opportunities we weren't able to take fully advantage of, but for the last three holes, Haeran and I really worked at it, and we were thinking we'll really play it to the end doing our best.

Q. Tomorrow are you going to change up the pairs or are you going to go with today's pairs?

JIN YOUNG KO: Actually we were thinking that after seeing the results of the first round, we would be very flexible and think about how we would rearrange the groups, but Hyo Joo and Hye-Jin have wonderful chemistry. They did great. Haeran and I, we tied, so we're really looking forward to coming back tomorrow, so I think we'll probably go with our pairs today.

Q. If you look at Ryder Cup, they also have foursomes included in the earlier part of the tournament. For the players, what do you think about that? Do you think it would have been sort of more interesting to have a foursome format included from the beginning?

HYO JOO KIM: I think for the spectators or for the gallery, of course the foursomes format would be a little bit more interesting and fun, but at this tournament only the victorious teams will move on to play the foursome format. We're hoping that we'll be able to show our fans us playing foursomes.

I think four-ball, foursome, they all have their pros and cons, and for the four-ball, it's a little bit more comfortable, I think, for the players to play. The downside would be that for the spectators and maybe perhaps for the players, it's not as interesting or exciting as the foursomes format.

Q. Haeran, you were saying that maybe your game didn't really play out the way you wanted to. I'm sure you watched the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown two years ago. What is it like to actually play in this tournament, and how is it different from what you thought the tournament would be like?

HAERAN RYU: Two years ago, of course I watched the International Crown on TV and I thought I really wanted to be a part of that tournament. So two years later to be with my teammates and be playing here in Korea, I think that in of itself is a huge privilege and honor for me, and I'm just happy to have made the entry. Of course I really want to do better and I really want to do good.

I think compared to just watching it on TV, being out here in the field, I'm really driven to do better. I will try to work on the areas that I felt that I could have improved in today's game, take good rest, eat well, and hopefully tomorrow with Jin Young we'll really be able to show our best golf. Jin Young has been telling me to get some sleep.

JIN YOUNG KO: We all need sleep.

Q. Tomorrow you will play the World team. They also won one match, tied one match. Any thoughts on playing the World team tomorrow?

HYE JIN CHOI: After checking the scores for today, Hyo Joo and I had a conversation, and because the World team and the Korean team have the same points, I think tomorrow's game will really impact our possibility/probability of succeeding on to further rounds. The Korean team is thinking that we will win no matter what. That is our attitude.