Head coach Colin Batch said it was pleasing to come away with the result after being under pressure throughout the second half.
"I'm very pleased with the win. The guys wanted to start well and we certainly did that to come away with all three points," he said.
"We did well at the start of the game scoring in the first 20 seconds but I think sometimes if you score early there's a tendency to be comfortable with the situation. I don't think it was a conscious thing but Korea did mount pressure on us and had a lot of possession.
"We responded well and I thought once they equalised we played our best period of the second half so to reply with another goal was very pleasing."
The Black Sticks Men play South Africa in their second pool game on Wednesday 4th June at 12:30am (NZ time), with live coverage on SKY Sport 3.
Meanwhile, the Black Sticks Women are up against Korea at 12:30am tomorrow morning (NZ time) in Pool A.
In other results today, fellow Pool B opponents Netherlands defeated Argentina 3-1 while Germany cruised past South Africa 4-0.