The team is led by reigning individual world champion Kim Woo-jin, who posted a new Olympic and world record of 700 in the ranking round.
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The Korean world No.1’s recurve score is the first of 700 in history and eclipsed the previous record set by compatriot Im Dong-hyun at the last Olympics in London.
Patrick Huston was the first Briton in competitive action at the Games, finishing 38th out of 64 archers.
Kim, referring to the men’s team title, which will be decided on Saturday, said: “It’s just the ranking round, so today’s not really big happy”.
The ranking round determined the seedings for the men’s individual event, which is decided on August 12. Of Kim’s 72 arrows, 52 were in the 10 ring, which is the highest score.
Korea’s first gold medal should come on Sunday, when the men’s team archery (Kim Woo-jin, Ku Bon-chan and Lee Seung-yun), men’s 10-m air pistol (Jin Jong-oh) and men’s 60-kg judo (Kim Won-jin) events are held.
The United States ended their run of three successive Olympic titles from 2000-08 in a nail-biting semi-final in London.
American former world champion Brady Ellison was also in excellent touch in the individual rankings round, shooting 690 to finish second, with Italian David Pasqualucci third with 685.
“It’s unbelievable. The conditions were good, really good today”.
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Men’s team champions Italy have 2004 individual victor Marco Galiazzo in their ranks once again, while the Chinese women’s team will bid to end 12 years of heartbreak after finishing second to the Koreans at the last three Olympics.
