South Korea's Mo Tae-bum has won a gold medal in the men's 500-meter speed skating event at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

During the competition held at the Richmond Olympic Oval on Tuesday (KST), Mo clocked in with a two-round total of 69.82 seconds, bringing Korea its second gold medal of the Vancouver Olympics.

It's also the first gold medal South Korea has won in speed skating since it first participated in the Winter Olympics in 1948.

Japan's Keiichiro Nagashima won the silver medal and compatriot Joji Kato took the bronze.

The gold medal ended up being a special birthday gift for the South Korean, who turned 21 on Monday.

Mo finished second in the first of two races in the competition and then blazed around the track with a time of 34.90 seconds in the second race to snatch the gold.

With the win, South Korea is now in a three-way tie for second in terms of gold medals with two.