Like most Asian countries, South Korea had never really considered bidding for the World Cup.
FIFA had split its biggest tournament between Europe and South America (plus Mexico) since the first competition in Uruguay in 1930. It seemed as if FIFA thought that the remaining confederations -- Africa, Asia, CONCACAF (North America and the Caribbean) and Oceania -- should consider themselves lucky to be able to take part in the tournament (even now, Oceania does not get an automatic spot in the finals). Although South Korea had qualified for four World Cups up to and including the 1994 event in the United States, it had never won a game and was considered a lightweight in world terms.
But it still considered itself superior to Japan as a footballing nation. Japan, after all, had never even qualified for the World Cup.